Infineon Technologies Austria Ag

Other

Jinghong Guo

Benjamim Tang

Tim Ng

Richard Pierson

Amir Babazadeh

Scott Wilson Southwell

Herbert Zojer

Mattia Oddicini

Nick Steffen

Harrison Hu

Kenneth A Ostrom

Timothy M Ng

Chun-Yen Lin

Rohan Samsi

Zhiqing You

A fault-tolerant multiphase voltage regulator includes a plurality of power stages, each of which is configured to deliver a phase current to a processor, and a controller. The controller is configured to: control the plurality of power stages to regulate an output voltage provided to the processor; detect and disable a faulty power stage; generate a throttling signal to indicate that one or more of the power stages is faulty and disabled; communicate the throttling signal to the processor over a physical line running between the processor and the controller; and place the multiphase voltage regulator in a self-test mode in which the processor is operated at a known computational load and the controller operates each power stage independently to determine if any of the power stages is faulty under the known computational load. A corresponding method of operating a fault-tolerant power distribution system is also described.

Voltage regulator having self-test mode

A multiphase voltage regulator includes a plurality of power stages, a plurality of current sense circuits, a controller and a current sense interface running between the controller and one or more of the current sense circuits. The current sense interface includes a separate line for each current sense circuit coupled to the current sense interface and which is configured to support single-ended or differential current sense. The regulator also includes a plurality of pullup circuits, each of which is connected to one of the current sense interface lines and has a higher impedance than the line to which it is connected. A fault detection circuit of the controller determines if an individual one of the current sense interface lines has an open fault, based on the pullup circuit connected to the line with the open fault pulling up the voltage on the line by more than a predetermined amount.

Faulty current sense line detection in multiphase voltage regulators

A fault-tolerant multiphase voltage regulator includes a plurality of power stages, each of which is configured to deliver a phase current to a processor, and a controller. The controller is configured to: control the plurality of power stages to regulate an output voltage provided to the processor; detect and disable a faulty power stage; generate a throttling signal to indicate if one or more of the power stages is faulty and disabled; and communicate the throttling signal to the processor over a physical line running between the processor and the controller. A corresponding method of operating a fault-tolerant power distribution system is also described.

Method and apparatus for power distribution using a multiphase voltage regulator with phase redundancy and fault tolerant operation

Methods and apparatus for a power regulator according to various aspects of the present invention may comprise a sensor adapted to generate a measurement of a voltage or a current. A memory may store a correction parameter that corresponds to the measurement, and a correction system may be adapted to adjust the measurement according to the correction parameter.

Power converter calibration method and apparatus

A voltage regulation system for providing power to a load is provided. The voltage regulation system includes a voltage regulator operable to: set an operating voltage of the load at a first voltage level which corresponds to a first voltage requirement of the load; receive a second voltage requirement of the load which is different than the first voltage requirement; produce a voltage ramp signal which transitions from the first voltage level to a second voltage level which corresponds to the second voltage requirement at a defined ramp rate; and ramp the operating voltage from the first voltage level to the second voltage level based on the voltage ramp signal and at the same ramp rate as the voltage ramp signal, but with a lag between the voltage ramp signal and the ramp in the operating voltage.

Voltage regulation system and method for providing power to a load

A multiphase voltage regulator includes a plurality of phases and a controller. Each phase is configured to output a phase current to a load through an inductor in response to a control signal input to the phase. The controller is operable to: generate the control signals input to the phases; set a switching frequency of the control signals to a first value; and change the switching frequency from the first value to a second value different than the first value if the load current changes repetitively at a frequency that is within a predetermined range of the first value of the switching frequency. A corresponding method of operating the multiphase voltage regulator is also provided.

Dynamic switching frequency control in multiphase voltage regulators

A voltage regulation system for providing power to a load is provided. The voltage regulation system includes a voltage regulator operable to set an operating voltage of the load at a first voltage level which corresponds to a first voltage requirement of the load, receive a second voltage requirement of the load which is different than the first voltage requirement and produce a voltage ramp from the first voltage level to the second voltage level. The voltage regulator is further operable to transition the operating voltage from the first voltage level to the second voltage level at a same ramp rate as the voltage ramp and with a lag between the voltage ramp and the transition in the operating voltage.

Methods and apparatus for power regulation according to various aspects of the present invention may operate in conjunction with producing a voltage ramp starting at a first voltage and ending at a second voltage and compensating the voltage ramp according to a compensation parameter. The compensation parameter may be adapted to compensate for a circuit parameter. A voltage may then be generated according to the compensated voltage ramp.

Voltage ramp circuitry and voltage ramp methods for voltage regulators

Methods and apparatus of dynamic transient optimization in a voltage regulator according to various aspects of the present invention may comprise a transition detector configured to compare an output voltage error to an amplitude threshold. The voltage regulator may further comprise a frequency detector configured to measure the frequency of the amplitude threshold being exceeded and to compare the frequency to a frequency threshold and a response circuit configured to activate a response according to a comparison between the frequency threshold and the frequency of the amplitude threshold being exceeded.

Methods and apparatus for voltage regulation with dynamic transient optimization

Methods and apparatus for calibration of power converters

Methods and apparatus for a multiphase power regulator according various aspects of the present invention operate in conjunction with an active transient response (ATR) system for applying a correction signal to a multiphase pulse width modulator. In the event of a transient, the ATR system may adjust the output of the pulse width modulator to quickly respond to load requirements. The output may be modified by adding pulses, blanking pulses, advancing pulses, and scaling pulses to one or more phases.

Methods and apparatus for a multiphase power regulator

Methods and apparatus for current sensing according to various aspects of the present invention operate in conjunction with a current sensor adapted to sense the current provided to a load via a transistor. In one embodiment, a power supply includes the current sensor, and supplies the current through a series combination of an inductor and the transistor. The current sensor is adapted to generate the inductor current signal according to a sensed current in the inductor, and may comprise a series combination of a first resistor and a second resistor. The resistive series combination is adapted to be connected in parallel to the series combination of the inductor and the transistor.

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Torrance, CA, United States of America

Jinghong Guo