Dialog Semiconductor (uk) Limited

Pietro Gambetta

Luigi Lacapra

Mark Mercer

A method of managing power and a power management circuit operable in a plurality of modes are presented. The power management circuit includes a three terminals switching converter coupled to a controller. The switching converter has a single inductor, two sets of switches, a bypass switch and a transition switch. The first set of switches is coupled to an input terminal. The second set of switches is coupled to a battery terminal. The bypass switch is coupled between the battery terminal and a load terminal. The single inductor is provided between a first switching node and a second switching node. The transition switch is provided between the first switching node and the battery or the load terminal. A controller is configured to select a mode of operation by changing a state of at least one of the bypass switch and the transition switch.

Power management circuit

A current sensing circuit is described. The current sensing circuit is for sensing a high side current through a high side switch and/or for sensing a low side current through a low side switch of a half bridge comprising the high side switch and the low side switch, which are arranged in series between a high side potential and a low side potential. The high side switch and the low side switch are in respective on-phases in a mutually exclusive manner. The high side sensing circuit comprises mirroring circuitry to mirror a current from a first node of the high side sensing circuit to an output node of the high side sensing circuit. The current sensing circuit comprises a low side sensing circuit to provide a sensed low side current which is indicative of the low side current during an on-phase of the low side switch.

Combined high side and low side current sensing

DC-DC current mode switching power converters that have negative current capability are presented. The power converters comprise: an output node, a pass device connected to the output node of the power converter, the pass device being configured to operate in accordance with a PWM signal and to supply at least a portion of an output current of the power converter, a PWM comparator for generating the PWM signal for controlling operation of the pass device in accordance with a current conducted by the pass device and a difference between an output voltage of the power converter and a reference voltage. The converters have push pull class B (or AB) current sensing, dynamic biasing of a current sense amplifier using error information, and using operational transconductance amplifiers that are fed an error voltage. This results in a lower quiescent current at zero load.

Power converter with negative current capability and low quiescent current consumption

A voltage regulator, which contains a circuit to determine its output power. It has an output node providing an output voltage for a load; current sensing means for sensing an output current flowing at the output node; voltage providing means for providing a digital representation of the output voltage or of an input voltage to the voltage regulator; output power determination means comprising a digitally controllable variable resistance circuit receiving the digital voltage representation from the voltage providing means and generating a resistance, wherein the variable resistance circuit is connected to the current sensing means to obtain a signal that depends upon the output current and generates a voltage depending on the generated resistance and the obtained signal; and the output power determining means are adapted to determine the output power of the voltage regulator based on the voltage generated by the variable resistance circuit.

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Livorno, Italy

Pietro Gambetta