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:
Nov. 11, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 21, 2001
Raymond D. Zinn, Atherton, CA (US);
Andrew Cowell, Kintbury, GB;
Micrel, Incorporated, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides an apparatus and method for optimizing the efficiency of a switching converter for converting a first voltage to a second voltage. The apparatus includes a regulator, a DC-to-DC converter and a controller. The controller couples with both the regulator and DC-to-DC converter, and the controller is configured to activate and deactivate the regulator and the DC-to-DC converter depending on an output demand. In one embodiment, the controller is configured to activate the regulator and deactivate the DC-to-DC converter when the output demand transitions from a first demand level to a second demand level. The controller is further configured to activate the DC-to-DC converter and to deactivate the regulator when the output demand transitions from the second demand level to the first demand level. The apparatus is configured to monitor demand, and to activate the DC-to-DC converter when demand is in a first state or activate the regulator when demand is in a second state.