| Patent application number | Description | Published |
| 20090261791 | Power Converter with Power Switch Operable in Controlled Current Mode - A power converter and method of controlling a power switch therein to improve power conversion efficiency at low output current. In one embodiment, the power converter includes a first power switch coupled to a source of electrical power and a second power switch coupled to the first power switch and to an output terminal of the power converter. The power converter also includes a controller configured to alternately enable conduction of the first and the second power switches with a duty cycle in response to an output characteristic of the power converter. The controller is configured to control a level of current in the first power switch when the second power switch is substantially disabled to conduct. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20100017042 | SPEED BINNING FOR DYNAMIC AND ADAPTIVE POWER CONTROL - A representative digital circuit of the invention has an on-chip, non-volatile memory, to which chip-specific speed-binning data that characterize performance of the digital circuit are written during production testing. During normal operation, the power controller that controls power-supply signals applied to the digital circuit reads the speed-binning data from the on-chip memory for use as input parameters for dynamic supply-voltage scaling, dynamic clock scaling, and/or adaptive power control that optimize (e.g., minimize) power consumption in the digital circuit. Advantageously over the prior art, the accuracy and efficiency of dynamic and/or adaptive power control arc improved because the chip-specific speed-binning data enable the power controller to better customize the power-management algorithm for the given digital circuit. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100019579 | VERSATILE AND INTELLIGENT POWER CONTROLLER - The invention provides a monolithic, highly integrated power supply circuit capable of providing various voltages for circuits on an expansion card, either from a main supply source or an auxiliary supply source. The monolithic power supply circuit preferably includes two switching converters, two low-drop-out regulators, a standby regulator, a reset circuit, and a control circuit. An associated method for providing various voltages via a monolithic power supply circuit is also disclosed. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100141228 | Power Converter with Power Switch Operable in Controlled Current Mode - A power converter and method of controlling a power switch therein to improve power conversion efficiency at low output current. In one embodiment, the power converter includes a first power switch coupled to a source of electrical power and a second power switch coupled to the first power switch and to an output terminal of the power converter. The power converter also includes a controller configured to alternately enable conduction of the first and the second power switches with a duty cycle in response to an output characteristic of the power converter. The controller is configured to control a level of current in the first power switch when the second power switch is substantially disabled to conduct. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100156374 | Power Converter with Power Switch Operable in Controlled Current Mode - A power converter and method of controlling a power switch therein to improve power conversion efficiency at low output current. In one embodiment, the power converter includes a first power switch coupled to a source of electrical power and a second power switch coupled to the first power switch and to an output terminal of the power converter. The power converter also includes a controller configured to alternately enable conduction of the first and the second power switches with a duty cycle in response to an output characteristic of the power converter. The controller is configured to control a level of current in the first power switch when the second power switch is substantially disabled to conduct. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100203928 | SOFTWARE BASED THERMAL CHARGING REGULATION LOOP - The present invention implements a software controlled thermal feedback system for battery charging circuitry in portable devices, specifically in cellular telephones. The charging hardware block is integrated into a mixed-signal analog base-band (ABB) circuit. In addition to standard function controls, integrated within the ABB are silicon temperature sensors used to monitor the temperature of any silicon components integrated on the ABB and detect any temperature change due to thermal heating. The temperature value is passed to the digital base band (DBB) circuit. Here, a microcontroller is programmed to perform power management functions relating to the ABB. Thermal control software, implemented on the DBB microcontroller, monitors the silicon temperature of the ABB and adjusts the power levels on the ABB accordingly to provide a controlled chip temperature. | 08-12-2010 |