Cypress Semiconductor Corporation

Hemant P Vispute

Arun Khamesra

Partha Mondal

Anup Nayak

Hariom Rai

Pulkit Shah

Ramakrishna Venigalla

Karri Rajesh

Ravi Konduru

Viral Kishorkumar Brahmbhatt

V M Saravanan

Kiran Kumar Reddy Maley

Tudu Rushika Banam Balia

Universal Serial Bus Type-C (USB-C) controllers with a floating gate driver with programmable drive strength for a wide range of USB power delivery applications in electronic devices described. A USB-C controller includes a floating gate driver and control logic. The floating gate driver includes p-channel field-effect transistors (FETs) coupled in parallel between a first terminal and a second terminal and p-channel pre-gate drivers. Each p-channel pre-gate driver is coupled to a gate of one of the p-channel FETs. The floating gate driver includes n-channel FETs coupled in parallel between the second terminal and a third terminal and n-channel pre-gate drivers, each n-channel pre-gate driver being coupled to a gate of one of the plurality of n-channel FETs. The control logic sends one or more control signals to activate a first number of p-channel pre-gate drivers and a second number of n-channel pre-gate drivers based on an output voltage.

Floating gate driver with programmable drive strength for a wide range of universal serial bus (USB) power delivery applications

In an example embodiment, a method for a Universal Serial Bus Type-C (USB-C) controller is provided. The method comprises: coupling a control channel PHY of the USB-C controller to a first configuration channel (CC) terminal of the USB-C controller; coupling a Vsupply terminal to a second CC terminal of the USB-C controller; detecting that a voltage across the second CC terminal of the USB-C controller and the Vsupply terminal is greater than a predetermined threshold; and in response to detecting that the voltage is greater than the predetermined threshold, decoupling the Vsupply terminal from the second CC terminal of the USB-C controller.

Reverse overcurrent protection for Universal Serial Bus Type-C (USB-C) connector systems

A Universal Serial Bus Type-C (USB-C) controller with a floating ground architecture for fault detection is described. A USB-C controller includes a floating ground circuit and a fault detection circuit coupled to a power converter. The floating ground circuit provides a floating ground voltage based on a supply voltage of the power converter. The fault detection circuit includes a comparator with power rails coupled to the supply voltage and the floating ground voltage. The fault detection circuit measures a differential signal across a first terminal and a second terminal, the differential signal representing a current of the power converter. The fault detection circuit compares the differential signal against a threshold using the comparator and outputs an indication of a fault condition in response to the differential signal satisfying the threshold.

Floating ground architectures in USB type-C controllers for fault detection

A USB-power delivery integrated circuit controller includes: one or more driver circuits configured to control operation of a buck-boost converter; a regulator configured to regulate an internal supply voltage of the controller from a variable input voltage of the buck-boost converter in a regulation mode, and to pass the variable input voltage as the internal supply voltage without regulation in a bypass mode, the regulator being in the bypass mode when the variable input voltage is below the internal supply voltage, the regulator including an amplifier and a pass transistor configured to pass a current that is inversely proportional to an output of the amplifier; a clamping circuit configured to limit an overdrive voltage of the pass transistor during an inrush current event; and an override circuit configured to deactivate the clamping circuit in the bypass mode when the current passed by the pass transistor is below a current threshold.

Regulator architecture with load dependent biasing and inrush current control

An apparatus includes a first high-side driver of a buck-boost converter, the first high-side driver powered between a first bootstrap voltage (VBST) and a first output voltage of a first high-side switch driven by the first high-side driver. A second high-side driver is powered between a second bootstrap voltage (VBST) and a second output voltage of a second high-side switch driven by the second high-side driver. A comparator is to detect VBSTdrop below a threshold value with respect to the first output voltage when the buck-boost converter is in boost mode. A leakage control circuit is to boost, using VBSTas a voltage source, VBSTeach cycle of boost mode in which an output of the comparator is enabled.

Bootstrap voltage refresh for buck-boost converter

A device includes a USB-C controller instantiated as a first integrated circuit that includes a first set of host terminals coupled to host controllers and a second set of terminals coupled to sets of D+/D&#x2212; terminals of a type-C receptacle. A D+/D&#x2212; multiplexer is to selectively couple the first set of host terminals to the second set of terminals. An electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit is coupled between the D+/D&#x2212; multiplexer and the second set of terminals. A charger detector circuit is coupled between a positive data system terminal and a negative data system terminal of the first set of terminals, the charger detector circuit to detect whether the second set of terminals is coupled to a USB charger through the type-C receptacle.

USB type-C signal interface circuit

An AC-DC converter with synchronous rectifier (SR) architecture and method for operating the same are described. Generally, a secondary side integrated circuit (IC) controller of the AC-DC converter includes a SR-SNS pin, a VBUS_IN pin, a first voltage-to-current converter, a sample-and-hold (S/H) circuit, a second voltage-to-current converter, and a signal generation circuit. The first voltage-to-current converter is coupled to remove a component of the output bus voltage sensed on the VBUS_IN pin from the voltage sensed on the SR-SNS pin. The S/H circuit is coupled to sample the voltage sensed on the SR-SNS pin and to provide a sampled voltage. The second voltage-to-current converter is coupled to convert the sampled voltage to a feed-forward current. The signal generation circuit is coupled to receive the feed-forward current and to generate feed-forward signals used to control operation of a primary side of the AC-DC converter.

Accurate feed-forward sensing in flyback-transformer based secondary controller

A dual-integrated gate-driver with reverse current protection (RCP) fault protection is described. A Universal Serial Bus Type-C (USB-C) controller includes a first terminal, a second terminal, and a dual-gate driver. The dual-gate driver drives a first power field effect transistor (FET) coupled to the first terminal and a second power FET coupled to the second terminal. The first power FET and the second power FET are connected in series between a voltage bus (VBUS_C) terminal of a USB Type-C connector and a voltage supply to deliver power to the VBUS_C terminal. A breakdown voltage of each of the first power FET and the second power FET is less than 20 volts. The dual-gate driver controls the first power FET and the second power FET in response to at least one of a short circuit event or a reverse current event.

Dual integrated gate-driver with reverse current fault protection for USB Type-C and USB power delivery

A USB-C controller, disposed on an integrated circuit (IC), comprises a first pair of terminals to communicate with a first communication protocol that is other than USB, a second pair of terminals to communicate with a second communication protocol that is other than USB, and a third pair of terminals, each of which is to be coupled to a corresponding SBU1 terminal or SBU2 terminal of a Type-C receptacle. The USB-C controller further includes: a multiplexer to selectively couple the first pair of terminals to the third pair of terminals and the second pair of terminals to the third pair of terminals: and logic to control the multiplexer according to a mode enabled within a configuration channel (CC) signal.

USB type-C sideband signal interface circuit

An electronic device includes a first switch configured to connect a Vsupply terminal of a Universal Serial Bus Type-C (USB-C) controller to a first configuration channel (CC) terminal of the USB-C controller in response to a USB-C connector being in a first orientation. A first current may flow through the first switch. The electronic device also includes an overcurrent component coupled to the first switch. The overcurrent component includes a second switch associated with the first switch. The second switch has a second current associated with the first current. The overcurrent component is configured to determine whether the first current is greater than a threshold current based on the first current and the second current. The overcurrent component is also configured to close the first switch in response to determining that the first current is greater than the threshold current.

Overcurrent protection for universal serial bus Type-C (USB-C) connector systems

An example electronic device includes a first switch and a second switch that are each coupled to an overvoltage detection and protection circuit. The first switch is configured to connect a first sideband use (SBU) terminal of a Universal Serial Bus Type-C (USB-C) controller to a SBU crossbar switch of the USB-C controller. The second switch is configured to connect a second SBU terminal of the USB-C controller to the SBU crossbar switch. The overvoltage detection and protection circuit is configured to deactivate the first switch or the second switch when a voltage exceeding a predetermined threshold is detected on a terminal of the first switch or the second switch.

Overvoltage protection for Universal Serial Bus Type-C (USB-C) connector systems

USB type-c signal interface circuit

A secondary side controller for an AC-DC converter and method for operating the same are provided. Generally, the controller includes a single synchronous rectifier sense (SR-SNS) pin coupled to a drain of a SR on a secondary of a transformer to sense a voltage (V). In feed-forward (FF) mode Vis a sum of a voltage (V) on a primary divided by a turn-ratio (N) of the transformer and an output bus voltage (V). A voltage-to-current (V2I) converter coupled to the SR-SNS pin and to the output bus removes Vfrom V. A sample and hold (S/H) module coupled to the SR-SNS pin samples a voltage (V) including information on V/N. A V/N V2I converter coupled to the S/H module converts Vto a feed-forward current (I), and a cancellation and signal module coupled thereto extracts information on Vfrom Iand generates signals to control the AC-DC converter.

An electronic device includes a first electronic circuitry portion configured to connect a Vsupply terminal of a Universal Serial Bus Type-C (USB-C) controller to a first configuration channel (CC) terminal of a plurality of CC terminals of the USB-C controller. The first CC terminal of the USB-C controller is to be directly connected to a first CC terminal of a plurality of CC terminals of a USB-C receptacle. The electronic device further includes a second electronic circuitry portion electrically coupled to the first electronic circuitry portion and configured to detect a voltage across the first CC terminal of the USB-C controller and the Vsupply terminal. The second electronic circuitry portion is to decouple the Vsupply terminal from the first CC terminal of the USB-C controller when the voltage is greater than a predetermined threshold.

Reverse overcurrent protection for universal serial bus type-C (USB-C) connector systems

A device includes a USB-C controller instantiated as a first integrated circuit, the USB-C controller comprising a first pair of terminals to communicate with a first communication protocol that is other than USB, a second pair of terminals to communicate with a second communication protocol that is other than USB, and a third pair of terminals, each of which is to be coupled to a corresponding SBU1 terminal or SBU2 terminal of a type-C receptacle. The controller further includes a multiplexer to selectively couple the first pair of terminals to the third pair of terminals and the second pair of terminals to the third pair of terminals. The controller further includes a series of cascaded, low-voltage n-type field-effect transistors (LVNFETs) coupled between the multiplexer and each terminal of the third pair of terminals.

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Bengaluru, India

Hemant P Vispute