Apple Inc.

Chongli Cai

Hao Zhou

Jay B Fletcher

Michael B Nussbaum

Mao Ye

Dingkun Du

Vijayanish Varadharajan

Soledad Calderon Arroyo

Benedict Foo

Rong Guo

Madhavi V Tagare

A power management circuit for a computer system is disclosed. The power management circuit includes a power storage circuit, a first power converter circuit, and a second power converter circuit. The first power converter circuit sources a current to a regulated power supply node via a first inductor under average load conditions using a voltage level of an input power supply node. During high-load transient conditions, the second power converter circuit provides additional current to the regulated power supply node via a second inductor using a voltage generated by the power storage circuit.

Distributed power management with separate peak and average power paths

A power converter circuit included in a computer system may include multiple devices and a switch node coupled to a regulated power supply node via an inductor. During a first time period, the power converter charges a capacitor, and the couples the capacitor to the switch node during a second time period. During a third time period the power converter couples the switch node to an input power supply node. To maintain constant charge delivered to the load during each time the switch node is coupled to the input power supply node, the duration of the third time period is adjusted based on a voltage level of the input power supply node, a voltage level of the regulated power supply node, a value of the inductor, and the durations of first and second time periods.

Adaptive on-time generation for three-level power converters

A power converter circuit that includes multiple phase circuits may employ coupled inductors to generate a particular voltage level on a regulated power supply node. In response to an initiation of an active time period, the phase circuits cycle, out of phase with each other, between on-times and off-times. To maintain the phase relationship between the operation of the phase circuits, each phase circuit generates a ramp current that is compared to the current flowing in its corresponding inductor and then halts an off-time based on a result of the comparison.

Phase shift error mitigation for power converters with coupled inductors

A power converter circuit that includes multiple phase circuits may employ coupled inductors to generate a particular voltage level on a regulated power supply node. Based on a comparison of a voltage level of the regulated power supply node and a reference voltage, the power converter circuit may initiate an active period, during which the phase circuits source respective currents to the regulated power supply node via corresponding coils included in the coupled inductor. After a time period has elapsed following an initiation of the active period, the operation of the phase circuits is adjusted so that the respective currents flowing in the coils of the coupled inductor are out of phase.

Pulse frequency modulation control methods for multi-phase power converters with coupled inductors

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Chongli Cai