Volterra Semiconductor Corporation

Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.

Anthony J Stratakos

Ilija Jergovic

David B Lidsky

Alexandr Ikriannikov

Michael D McJimsey

Kaiwei Yao

Andrew J Burstein

Artin Der Minassians

Charles Roger Sullivan

Jieli Li

Marco A Zuniga

Aaron M Schultz

William Albert Clark

Biljana Beronja

Ana Borisavljevic

Vincent W Ng

Xin Zhang

Sombuddha Chakraborty

Trey Roessig

Giovanni Garcea

Charles Nickel

Chiteh Chiang

Andrea Pizzutelli

Kwang Hong Tan

Mihalis Michael

Phong T Nguyen

Yali Xiong

Ryan James Ricchiuti

Charlie Sullivan

Ion E Opris

Lawrence Tse

Budong You

Seth Marshall Kahn

Ognjen Djekic

Luigi Panseri

Paul H Choi

Theodore Vinko Burmas

Michael A Davis

Alexander Ikriannikov

David B Liksky

Alexandr Ikiannikov

Llija Jergovic

A magnetic device includes a magnetic core, a plurality of first windings forming respective first winding turns, and a second winding forming a second winding turn. Each first winding turn is within the second winding turn, as seen when the magnetic device is viewed cross-sectionally in a first direction. Yet another magnetic device includes a magnetic core, one or more first windings, and one or more second windings magnetically isolated from the one or more first windings.

Magnetic devices for power converters with light load enhancers

A method for controlling a switching circuit including an input port electrically coupled to a photovoltaic device and an output port electrically coupled to a load includes (1) entering a voltage limiting operating mode and (2) in the voltage limiting operating mode (i) causing a control switching device of the switching circuit to repeatedly switch between its conductive and non-conductive states in a manner which limits magnitude of an output voltage to a maximum voltage value, the output voltage being a voltage across the output port, and (ii) varying the maximum voltage value as a function of magnitude of an output current, the output current being a current flowing through the output port.

Switching circuits having multiple operating modes and associated methods

A maximum power point tracking controller includes an input port for electrically coupling to an electric power source, an output port for electrically coupling to a load, a control switching device, and a control subsystem. The control switching device is adapted to repeatedly switch between its conductive and non-conductive states to transfer power from the input port to the output port. The control subsystem is adapted to control switching of the control switching device to regulate a voltage across the input port, based at least in part on a signal representing current flowing out of the output port, to maximize a signal representing power out of the output port.

Maximum power point tracking controllers and associated systems and methods

Various applications of interconnect substrates in power management systems are described.

Power management application of interconnect substrates

Disclosed are systems, devices, circuits, components, mechanisms, and processes in which a switching mechanism can be coupled between components. The switching mechanism is configured to have an on state or an off state, where the on state allows current to pass along a current path. A monitoring mechanism has one or more sensing inputs coupled to sense an electrical characteristic at the current path. The electrical characteristic can be a current, voltage, and/or power by way of example. The monitoring mechanism is configured to output a reporting signal indicating the sensed electrical characteristic. The monitoring mechanism can be integrated with the switching mechanism on a chip.

Integrated protection devices with monitoring of electrical characteristics

A method for controlling a number of phases that are active in a multiphase direct-current-to-direct-current (DC-to-DC) converter includes (a) filtering a current signal representing a magnitude of current processed by the multiphase DC-to-DC converter to generate a filtered signal, (b) comparing the filtered signal to a first threshold value, (c) deactivating one or more phases of the multiphase DC-to-DC converter in response to the filtered signal falling below the first threshold value, (d) comparing the current signal to a second threshold value, the second threshold value being greater than the first threshold value, and (e) activating one or more phases of the multiphase DC-to-DC converter in response to the current signal rising above the second threshold value.

Systems and methods for DC-to-DC converter control

A method for testing a photovoltaic device electrically coupled to an input port of a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller, where the MPPT controller includes a switching circuit adapted to transfer power between the input port and an output port of the MPPT controller, includes the steps of: (a) driving a test current into the output port of the MPPT controller; (b) detecting presence of the test current; and (c) in response to detecting presence of the test current, causing the switching circuit to provide a path for the test current from the output port to the photovoltaic device.

Systems and methods for controlling maximum power point tracking controllers

An integrated photovoltaic panel has one or more integral DC-DC converter circuits. The DC-DC converter input port couples to a section of at least one photovoltaic (PV) device of the panel separate from PV devices feeding other converters. The converter has an MPPT controller for operating the converter to transfer maximum power from coupled photovoltaic devices to its output port. The PV panel has a transparent substrate to which PV devices are mounted. A laminating material seals PV devices and converters to the substrate. In embodiments, the panel has multiple converters connected with output ports in series. The integrated PV panel provides summed maximum powers of each section of PV devices. In some embodiments the DC-DC converters are complete with inductors, in other embodiments a common inductor is shared by multiple converters of the panel, in a particular embodiment the common inductor is parasitic inductance of the panel.

Integrated photovoltaic panel with sectional maximum power point tracking

A switching circuit for extracting power from an electric power source includes (1) an input port for electrically coupling to the electric power source, (2) an output port for electrically coupling to a load, (3) a first switching device configured to switch between its conductive state and its non-conductive state to transfer power from the input port to the output port, (4) an intermediate switching node that transitions between at least two different voltage levels at least in part due to the first switching device switching between its conductive state and its non-conductive state, and (5) a controller for controlling the first switching device to maximize an average value of a voltage at the intermediate switching node.

Switching circuits for extracting power from an electric power source and associated methods

An electric power system includes N electric power sources and N switching circuits, where N is an integer greater than one. Each switching circuit includes an input port electrically coupled to a respective one of the N electric power sources, an output port, and a first switching device adapted to switch between its conductive and non-conductive states to transfer power from the input port to the output port. The output ports of the N switching circuits are electrically coupled in series and to a load to establish an output circuit. Each of the N switching circuits uses an interconnection inductance of the output circuit as a primary energy storage inductance of the switching circuit.

A magnetic device includes a magnetic core, one or more first windings, and one or more second windings. Each first winding forms a respective first turn around a respective first winding center axis, and each second winding forms a respective second turn around a common second winding center axis that is orthogonal to each first winding center axis. Another magnetic device includes a magnetic core, a plurality of first windings forming respective first winding turns, and a second winding forming a second winding turn. Each first winding turn is within the second winding turn, as seen when the magnetic device is viewed cross-sectionally in a first direction. Yet another magnetic device includes a magnetic core, one or more first windings, and one or more second windings magnetically isolated from the one or more first windings.

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Kentfield, CA, United States of America

Anthony J Stratakos