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:
May. 10, 2011
Filed:
Nov. 03, 2009
Kwan-jen Chu, Hsinchu, TW;
Nien-hui Kung, Hsinchu, TW;
Tzu-huan Chiu, Jhubei, TW;
Chien-ping LU, Jhubei, TW;
Kwan-Jen Chu, Hsinchu, TW;
Nien-Hui Kung, Hsinchu, TW;
Tzu-Huan Chiu, Jhubei, TW;
Chien-Ping Lu, Jhubei, TW;
Richtek Technology Corp., Hsinchu, TW;
Abstract
A switching regulator includes a low-side switch having a body diode. During the low-side switch is on, a zero-current sense circuit monitors the inductor current of the switching regulator and triggers a signal to turn off the low-side switch when the inductor current falls down to a zero-current threshold, to prevent reverse inductor current from the output terminal of the switching regulator. A body-diode turn-on time controller monitors the turn-on time of the body diode and adjusts the zero-current threshold according thereto, and the turn-on time of the body diode can be reduced to an optimal interval subsequently. The self-adjustable zero-current threshold is adaptive according to the application conditions, such as the inductor size, input voltage and output voltage of the switching regulator.