Intersil Americas Inc.

Intersil Corporation

Thomas Victorin

Zaki Moussaoui

A multiphase sliding-mode switching power supply () and a method of operating the power supply () are provided. A switch () for each phase () is coupled to a bipolar power source (), with each switch () effecting one phase (). An inductance () is coupled to each switch (), and a capacitance () is coupled to the inductances (). A load () is coupled across the capacitance (). A sliding-surface generator () is coupled to the monitor circuit () and generates a single sliding surface (&#x3c3;) for all phases (). A translation circuit () is coupled to the sliding-surface generator () and configured to translate the sliding surface (&#x3c3;) into a stream of switching pulses (). A transient control () is coupled to the translation circuit () and configured to adjust said stream of switching pulses upon detection of an out-of-range transient. A switching circuit () is coupled to the switches () and the transient control (), and switches the switches () in response to the stream of switching pulses ().

Apparatus and method for transient control in a multiphase switching power supply

A multiphase DC-to-DC converter includes at least two phase circuits each having upper and lower power switches and a front-end inductor that is operative for forming a resonant tank circuit with the phase circuits to ensure zero voltage switching and minimizing power losses.

Multiphase converter with zero voltage switching

A multi-stage, push-pull driven, resonant DC-AC converter ties the center-taps of primary windings of respective push-pull stages together, and drives each center-tap with a current source. Tying the center-taps of the primary windings of the respective DC-AC converters' transformers together forces the voltages at these locations to be the same, so as to achieve mutual resonant synchronization between the two stages. Connecting the center-taps to a current source provides the necessary power for each stage and allows for a variation in current between stages, as the center-tap voltages track one another. The tied-together center-tap voltage is monitored to obtain the zero voltage switching required for efficient operation of switching devices of each DC-AC converter stage.

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Palm Bay, FL, United States of America

Thomas Victorin