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.

Date of Patent:
Feb. 10, 2015

Filed:

May. 06, 2013
Applicant:

Nxp B.v., Eindhoven, NL;

Inventors:

Andre Gunther, San Jose, CA (US);

Kevin Mahooti, Sunnyvale, CA (US);

Meng Hao, Shanghai, CN;

Assignee:

NXP B.V., Eindhoven, NL;

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 1/00 (2006.01); G06F 1/32 (2006.01); G05F 1/56 (2006.01); H02M 3/156 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 1/3203 (2013.01); G05F 1/56 (2013.01); H02M 3/156 (2013.01);
Abstract

Consistent with an example embodiment, there is a power regulator arrangement with variable current capacity providing power from a power supply to a load having variable demand. As a load, a high-performance microprocessor has several modes of operation. At the highest speed setting, it demands a lot of current. At slower clock speeds and during state retention, the processor has a very low current consumption. Using a single regulator, the current efficiency may be very low during long standby periods. To increase the efficiency even at lower load currents, a scheme is based on parallel operation of multiple regulators having different load ranges, for example, a 'low, 'medium,' and “high' range regulators. Having knowledge of the load current profile, the regulators can be adjusted such that the peak of the efficiency curve matches the load profile of the regulator. The efficiency of the power regulator arrangement is enhanced throughout the range of power demanded by the load.


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