The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 25, 2000
Filed:
May. 28, 1999
Applicant:
Inventors:
Jeff Kotowski, Nevada City, CA (US);
William J McIntyre, Wheatland, CA (US);
John P Parry, Grass Valley, CA (US);
Assignee:
National Semiconductor Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H02M / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
363 60 ; 307110 ;
Abstract
A structure and method are provided for converting unregulated DC voltages to regulated DC voltages using pulse frequency modulation (PFM) and a switched capacitor array capable of multiple gains, where gain selection is based on the output voltage. The selected gain is maintained at or above a minimum gain determined from the input voltage. A regulated voltage, which is equal to or greater than a desired output voltage, is thus available to the load over a wider range of inputs and with greater conversion efficiency.