Alpha and Omega Semiconductor International LP

Skyworks Solutions, Inc.

Other

Michael Scheel

Wendy Ng

Yin Chun Yeung

A port controller circuit is configured to control power transfer on a power path between a first terminal and a second terminal. The controller circuit includes first and second transistors connected in series between the first terminal and the second terminal, a control terminal of the first transistor receiving a first gate voltage and a control terminal of the second transistor receiving a second gate voltage. A first gate voltage control circuit generates the first gate voltage driving the control terminal of the first transistor and regulates the first gate voltage to keep the first transistor turned on. In response to the first gate voltage control circuit regulating the first gate voltage to a voltage value less than a first voltage level, the first gate voltage control circuit asserts a first signal to indicate a fault condition at the first transistor.

Port controller with real-time fault detection

A system and method in an electronic system including multiple serial ports, each coupled to a port controller circuit. In one embodiment, the method includes providing a monitor terminal at each port controller circuit, each monitor terminal having a first resistance value; connecting together electrically at least two of the monitor terminals of the port controller circuits of the multiple serial ports; and sensing, at each port controller circuit, a first voltage at the monitor terminal. In operation, when the first voltage is outside a predetermined voltage window, a first signal is generated at a first port controller circuit where the first signal has a state indicating a failure detected in at least one of the port controller circuits with connected monitor terminals.

Port controller power path short detection

A port controller circuit implements monitoring and detection of power path short failures by regulating the control voltage to the power switches during the on-state of the power switches. A failure condition is indicated when the control voltage to a power switch is regulated to a voltage level outside of a permissible range. The port controller circuit implements real-time monitoring where a short within the power path can be detected while the power path is enabled and the fault condition can be used to disable other port controller circuits in a multi-port system. In one embodiment, a port controller circuit includes a pair of back-to-back transistors forming the power path and the real-time fault detection scheme is applied to control each transistor independently to determine if either transistor has a fault condition.

A multi-port system and method implements fault detection using a resistor connected to each port controller where the resistors of at least two port controllers are connected together in parallel. Each port controller supplies a predetermined current to the associated resistor and senses the resistor voltage of the parallelly connected resistors to detect for a fault condition. A failure condition is indicated when the resistor voltage is outside of a given threshold window. In this manner, for a single point failure, such as a short along the power path of a port controller, the other port controller senses a change in the resistor voltage and can assert a fault signal. In one embodiment, the fault signal is an open drain output and operates to pull down on a fault bus, which disables all the port controllers in the system through a disable input.

According to some implementation, a charge pump includes a boost charge pump circuit and a buck charge pump circuit sharing a common flying capacitance. In some implementations, the boost pump circuit includes an input node and a boosted-voltage output node, and the buck charge pump circuit includes the input node and a divided-voltage output node. In some implementations, the charge pump of claimwherein the boosted-voltage includes 2&#xd7;Vin, and the divided-voltage includes Vin/2, Vin being an input voltage at the input node. In some implementations, the boost pump circuit further includes a first holding capacitance that couples the boosted-voltage output node to a ground. In some implementations, the buck pump circuit further includes a second holding capacitance that couples the divided-voltage output node to the ground.

Dual output charge pump

In one implementation, a voltage boost assembly including a boost converter having a capacitive element arranged at an output, and an inductive element connectable to an electrical supply. The voltage boost assembly also includes a sensor assembly provided to generate a quick-start enable signal in response to detecting that an electrical condition relative to an electrical output of the boost converter has breached a first threshold. The voltage boost assembly further includes a quick-start module responsive to the quick-start enable signal, and configured to drive the boost converter at a relatively high duty-cycle and so that the boost converter delivers an output current that satisfies a second threshold in order to charge the capacitive element arranged at the output.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Michael Scheel