Artesyn Technologies, Inc.

Piotr Markowski

Mark Jutras

John A McNeill

Seamus Martin O'Driscoll

Mark S Masera

Chanchal Gupta

A power supply for providing a modulated output voltage to a load is disclosed. According to various embodiments, the power supply comprises a plurality of parallel-connected switch-mode power modules and a controller. The controller is connected to each of the power modules and is for controlling the duty cycles of the respective power modules such that the power modules have a common duty cycle in steady state, but in a phase-shifted or 'interleaved' manner. In addition, the controller is for controlling the output voltage of the power converter by controlling the ratio of power modules in the forward state at a time to the total number of power modules. In this way, by providing a sufficiently large number of power modules, arbitrarily low output voltage amplitudes and intra-level oscillations can be achieved. Further, the rate of modulation of the output voltage can exceed the switching frequency (f=1/T, where T is the switching period) of the power modules. An rf power amplifier system including such a power supply is also disclosed.

Power supply providing ultrafast modulation of output voltage

A power converter is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the power converter includes a first stage comprising a current source and a second stage comprising n output circuits for converting the current signal into n corresponding output voltages. Each of the n output circuits includes an output switch responsive to a corresponding ncontrol signal for regulating the corresponding noutput voltage. The second stage further comprises a controller for generating the n control signals. The controller includes, for each of the n output circuits, an error amplifier, a waveform generator, and a summing circuit. Each error amplifier is configured to generate an output signal based upon a comparison of the output voltage of the noutput circuit and a corresponding nreference voltage. Each waveform generator generates a waveform signal. The waveform signals for the n output circuits are characterized by a common amplitude and period, and the phases of the waveforms signals are spaced at predetermined intervals. For each of the n outputs, the corresponding summing circuit sums the output of the error amplifier and the waveform signal to generate an amplitude-shifted waveform signal. The controller further includes a comparator for outputting the n control signals to the output switches based upon a comparison of the relative amplitudes of the amplitude-shifted waveform signals.

Current-fed multiple-output power converter

The present invention is directed to a digital controller for adjusting the duty ratio a pulse width modulation control signal used to control a power switch of a switch mode power converter. According to various embodiments, the digital controller comprises a voltage compensator module for generating a first signal (Dvoltage) representative of the duty ratio of the control signal based on a difference between an output voltage of the converter and a reference voltage. The controller also includes a current compensator module for generating a second signal (Dcorrection) representative of a modification to the duty ratio of the control signal based on an output current of the converter. A subtraction module subtracts the second signal (Dcorrection) from the first signal (Dvoltage) to thereby generate a third signal (D), which is used by a duty ratio PWM generator module to generate the pulse width modulation control signal with the appropriate duty ratio.

Digital current mode controller with low frequency current sampling

A PFC AC-to-DC power supply is disclosed. According to various embodiments, the PFC AC-to-DC power supply comprises a switching converter comprising at least one main power switch and a PFC controller for controlling the at least one main power switch. The PFC controller may comprise a processing unit comprising a processor and a memory having firmware stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to compute an input current set point for the AC-to-DC power supply based on the output voltage of the AC-to-DC power supply. The PFC controller may also comprise hardware circuitry in communication with the processing unit. The hardware circuitry may comprise a first a/d converter, such as a window a/d converter, for outputting a digital input current error value based on the input current of the AC-to-DC power supply and an analog form of the input current set point from the processing unit. The hardware circuitry may also comprise a digital current mode compensator in communication with the first a/d converter for determining the duty cycle for the at least one main power switch based on the digital input current error value from the a/d converter.

Digital power factor correction controller and AC-to-DC power supply including same

A programmable error amplifier (PEA) that may be used as part of a voltage regulation subsystem to control the output of a digitally programmable voltage source is disclosed. According to various embodiments, the PEA comprises an amplification circuit, an analog voltage sampling circuit and a digital reference voltage sampling circuit. The amplification circuit may employ a negative feedback configuration, and include an amplifier and a plurality of feedback capacitors. The analog voltage sampling circuit is responsive to an analog input voltage (such as the output of the programmable voltage source) and is coupled to the amplification circuit. During a first operational phase (the sampling phase), the analog voltage sampling circuit stores a charge dependent upon the analog input voltage, and during a second operational phase (the conversion phase), the analog voltage sampling circuit transfers the charge to the feedback capacitors of the amplification circuit. The digital reference voltage sampling circuit is responsive to a digital programming word and also is coupled to the amplification circuit. During the first (sampling) phase, the digital reference voltage sampling circuit stores a charge dependent upon the digital programming word, and during the second (conversion) phase transfers the charge to the feedback capacitors of the amplification circuit. A differential voltage based on the difference between the analog voltage and a reference voltage determined by the digital programming word appears across the input terminals of the amplifier.

Programmable error amplifier for sensing voltage error in the feedback path of digitially programmable voltage sources

A circuit for providing a regulated voltage to a load. The circuit includes a power converter coupled to the load and including at least one pulse-width modulated switching device, a control circuit for providing a pulse-width modulated control signal to the pulse-width modulated switching device of the power converter based on an output voltage of the power converter, and a transient override circuit responsive to a load voltage for biasing the pulse-width modulated switching device conductive during certain load voltage conditions.

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Worcester, MA, United States of America

Piotr Markowski