Lion Semiconductor Inc.

Wonyoung Kim

John Crossley

Hanh-Phuc Le

Alberto Alessandro Angelo Puggelli

Thomas Li

Hans Meyvaert

Zhipeng Li

Aaron Melgar

Bertram J Rodgers

Alberto Puggelli

Circuits comprising: an inductor having a first side connected to V; a first switch having a first side connected to a second side of the inductor; a second switch having a first side connected to V; a first capacitor having a first side connected to a second side of the second switch; a third switch having a first side connected to a second side of the first switch; a fourth switch having a first side connected to a second side of the third switch; a fifth switch having a first side connected to a second side of the first capacitor and to a second side of the fourth switch, and having a second side coupled to a voltage source; and a second capacitor having a first side connected to the first side of the fourth switch, and having a second side connected to the second side of the fifth switch.

Circuits for a hybrid switched capacitor converter

A feedback system that can control hybrid regulator topologies that have multiple converters or regulators connected in series is described. The hybrid regulator can include at least two regulators: a switched inductor regulator and a switched-capacitor regulator. The feedback system can simplify feedback design for the hybrid regulator that can include multiple converter stages and can control the feedback to improve the efficiency of a hybrid regulator.

Feedback control for hybrid regulator including a buck converter and a switched capacitor converter

The present disclosure shows a reconfigurable Dickson Star SC regulator that can support multiple conversion ratios by reconfiguring between various modes. The reconfigurable Dickson Star SC regulator is designed to reduce the number of redundant capacitors by reusing capacitors and switches across multiple modes of operation (across multiple conversion ratios). The present disclosure also shows a hybrid (e.g., two-stage) voltage regulator.

Reconfigurable dickson star switched capacitor voltage regulator

The present disclosure shows ways to use multiple 'integrated voltage regulator (IVR) units' to offer IVRs that can cover a wide range of specifications without having to design separate IVRs for different specifications. Instead of designing separate IVRs and paying for separate mask sets for IVRs targeting different specifications (e.g., different design and mask sets for 1 A IVR, 5 A IVR), the disclosed embodiments present ways to design and fabricate large numbers of the same unit IVRs (e.g., 1 A IVR) and decide how many of them to use post-fabrication to deliver different current specifications (e.g., use five 1 A unit IVRs for 5 A, use ten 1 A unit IVRs for 10 A). These disclosed embodiments reduce the mask cost of fabricating IVRs for different specifications and reduce design time by focusing on a single unit IVR.

Reconfigurable power regulator

Systems for charging a battery are provided, the systems comprising: a regulator having an output coupled to the battery and having an input; a wireless charging receiver having an output coupled to the input of the regulator and having an input that receives a power signal from a wireless charging transmitter; a controller having a first input coupled to the input of the regulator, having a second input coupled to the output of the regulator, and having a first output coupled to the wireless charging transmitter, wherein the controller is configured to send, using the first output of the controller, a control signal to the wireless charging transmitter that causes the wireless charging transmitter to change the power signal provided to the wireless charging receiver.

Systems for battery charging using a wireless charging signal

Voltage regulator systems include, in part, a regulator comprising an input terminal and an output terminal, wherein the regulator is configured to receive an input voltage from an adapter at the input terminal and provide an output voltage at the output terminal, wherein the regulator comprises at least one switched capacitor regulator operating in a first conversion mode corresponding to a first conversion factor. The voltage regulator systems also include a controller configured to control an operation of the regulator, wherein the controller is configured to determine when a conversion ratio of the regulator is greater than the first conversion factor, and, in response, to send a request to the adapter to decrease the input voltage.

Voltage regulator systems configured to control input voltage

Apparatus, systems and methods for reconfigurable dickson star switched capacitor voltage regulator

A voltage regulator system, comprising: a switched capacitor (SC) regulator that operates at a switching frequency and receives an input voltage; and a controller configured to control an operation of the SC regulator by adjusting the switching frequency of the SC regulator based on efficiency. In some embodiments, the switching frequency is swept to determine a best efficiency. In some embodiments, the switching frequency is swept at each of a plurality of values for the input voltage. In some embodiments, the system includes further one or more switches in series with the SC regulator. In some embodiments, the SC regulator includes an output terminal that is coupled to a battery.

Feedback control for efficient high-speed battery charging

The present disclosure shows a hybrid regulator topology that can be more easily integrated and that can maintain high efficiency across a wide output and input voltage range, even with a small inductor. The hybrid regulator topology can include two types of regulators: a flying switched-inductor regulator and a step-down regulator that divides the input voltage into an M/N fraction of the input voltage. The disclosed embodiments of the hybrid regulator topology can reduce the capacitive loss of the flying switched-inductor regulator by limiting the voltage swing across the switches in the flying switched-inductor regulator. The disclosed embodiments of the hybrid regulator topology can reduce the inductor resistive loss of the flying switched-inductor regulator by operating the flying switched-inductor regulator at a high switching frequency and with a small amount of current flow through the inductor.

Apparatus, systems, and methods for providing a hybrid voltage regulator

The present disclosure includes a feedback system that can control hybrid regulator topologies that have multiple converters or regulators connected in series. The hybrid regulator can include at least two regulators: a switched inductor regulator and a switched-capacitor regulator. The disclosed embodiments of the feedback system can simplify feedback design for the hybrid regulator that can include multiple converter stages. These disclosed embodiments can control the feedback to improve the efficiency of a hybrid regulator.

Growing community of inventors

Berkeley, CA, United States of America

Wonyoung Kim