POWER CONTROLLER WITH SMOOTH TRANSITION TO PULSE SKIPPING
Granted: April 25, 2013
Application Number:
20130100714
A power converter control circuit includes a ramp signal circuit, a blanking circuit, and a pulse driver circuit. The ramp signal circuit provides a ramp signal in response to a power converter feedback signal and an enable signal. The blanking circuit provides a blanking signal in response to the ramp signal and a clock signal. The blanking signal is provided when both the ramp signal is increasing in value and the enable signal indicates a light load operating condition. The pulse…
ACTIVE SURGE PROTECTION IN A POWER SUPPLY
Granted: April 25, 2013
Application Number:
20130100710
A surge protection module is disclosed. An example surge protection module includes a first terminal coupled to a first output terminal of a rectifier of a power supply. A second terminal is coupled to a first input terminal of a switching converter of the power supply. A third terminal is coupled to a second output terminal of the rectifier and a second input terminal of the switching converter. A variable resistance circuit is coupled between the first and second terminals. A control…
PRE-BIASED SAMPLING FILTER
Granted: April 4, 2013
Application Number:
20130083579
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for sampling a feedback signal representative of an output of a power converter using a pre-biased filter capacitor. The pre-biased filter capacitor provides accurate sampling of the feedback signal during various load conditions. The pre-biased filter may be pre-charged to a pre-bias voltage that is below the regulated voltage of the feedback signal to reduce the amount of time required to charge the pre-biased filter capacitor to the regulated…
PROTECTION FOR INADVERTENT MISSING FEEDBACK VOLTAGE SIGNAL
Granted: April 4, 2013
Application Number:
20130083572
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for providing improved feedback sampling in a primary-side regulated power converter. A test sample may be taken prior to the default feedback sample. The voltage of the test sample may be compared to the voltage of the default feedback sample to determine if the voltage difference between the two samples exceeds a threshold. If the default sample is lower than the test sample by more than the threshold, the default sample may be flagged as being a…
MULTI-STAGE SAMPLING CIRCUIT FOR A POWER CONVERTER CONTROLLER
Granted: April 4, 2013
Application Number:
20130083566
An example controller for a power converter includes a track and hold circuit, a sample and hold circuit, and drive logic. The track and hold circuit receives a signal from a terminal of the controller that is representative of an output voltage of the power converter. The track and hold circuit includes a first capacitor that provides a first voltage that tracks the signal and then holds the first voltage. The sample and hold circuit samples the first voltage when the first voltage is…
ON TIME SAMPLING PREVENTION
Granted: April 4, 2013
Application Number:
20130083565
An example controller for a power converter includes a feedback sampling circuit, drive logic and a false sampling prevention circuit. The feedback sampling circuit is coupled to sample a feedback signal received from a terminal of the controller and to generate a sample signal representative of a value of the feedback signal. The drive logic is coupled to the feedback sampling circuit and coupled to control the power switch to regulate an output of the power converter in response to the…
POWER SUPPLY CONTROLLER WITH MINIMUM-SUM MULTI-CYCLE MODULATION
Granted: March 28, 2013
Application Number:
20130077350
An example power supply controller includes a signal separator circuit that generates a feedback signal. An error signal generator generates an error signal in response to the feedback signal. A control circuit generates a drive signal in response to the error signal. The drive signal controls switching of a switch. A multi-cycle modulation circuit is included in the control circuit and generates a skip signal in response to a start skip signal, a stop skip signal and a skip mask signal.…
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETECTING A CHANGE IN OUTPUT VOLTAGE OF AN ISOLATED POWER CONVERTER
Granted: March 28, 2013
Application Number:
20130077355
A power converter controller includes a drive circuit coupled to control switching of a power switch coupled to an energy transfer element and an input of the power converter. An output voltage sensor including first and second pulse sampler circuits is coupled to capture first and second peak voltages, respectively, that are representative of a second peak of a ringing voltage of a feedback signal representative of an output of the power converter. The first pulse sampler circuit is…
ADAPTIVE BIASING FOR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
Granted: March 28, 2013
Application Number:
20130077357
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for generating an adjustable bias current. The value of the adjustable bias current may be determined based in part on an error signal representative of a difference between an actual output value and a desired output value of a power converter. When the error signal is below a lower threshold voltage, the adjustable bias current may be set to a first value. When the error signal is above an upper threshold voltage, the adjustable bias current may be…
CONTROLLER WITH CONSTANT CURRENT LIMIT
Granted: March 28, 2013
Application Number:
20130077358
Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for generating a temperature independent current limit. The value of the temperature independent current limit may be determined based in part on an error signal representative of a difference between an actual output value and a desired output value of a power converter. When the error signal is below a lower threshold voltage, the temperature independent current limit may be set to a first value. When the error signal is above an upper threshold…
Power Supply Circuit with a Control Terminal for Different Functional Modes of Operation
Granted: March 21, 2013
Application Number:
20130070488
A method of operation for flyback power converter includes operating a controller of the flyback power converter in a regulation mode when a control signal is below a first threshold. The control signal is provided as an input to a terminal of the flyback power converter. When the control signal is below a second threshold and above the first threshold, the controller is operated in a limiting mode. The controller is operated in an external command mode when the control signal is below a…
DAMPER CIRCUIT FOR SWITCHED DIMMING
Granted: March 7, 2013
Application Number:
20130057167
A power converter includes dimmer circuit, a rectifier circuit, and a thyristor damper circuit. The dimmer circuit provides a dimmer voltage in response to an input voltage. The rectifier circuit provides a rectified voltage in response to the dimmer voltage. The thyristor damper circuit dampens an input current associated with the rectified voltage based on the input current and ceases dampening the rectified voltage based on the rectified voltage.
Method and Apparatus for Programming an Anti-Fuse Element in a High-Voltage Integrated Circuit
Granted: March 7, 2013
Application Number:
20130058182
A method for programming a programmable block of a power IC device includes selecting an anti-fuse element of the programmable block to be programmed. The anti-fuse element includes first and second capacitive plates separated by a dielectric layer. A voltage pulse is then applied to a pin of the power IC device. The pin is connected to a drain of a high-voltage field-effect transistor (HVFET) that drives an external load via the pin during a normal operating mode of the power IC device.…
LOAD CURRENT MANAGEMENT CIRCUIT
Granted: February 28, 2013
Application Number:
20130049622
A circuit includes a switching power converter and a load current management circuit. The switching power converter provides a first current that varies between a first current value and a second current value in response to a dimming control signal. The load current management circuit provides a second current that varies between the second current value and a third current value in response to the dimming control signal. The second current varies in accordance with the first current.…
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VARYING CURRENT LIMIT TO LIMIT AN OUTPUT POWER OF A POWER SUPPLY
Granted: February 28, 2013
Application Number:
20130051093
A power supply controller includes an input voltage sense input and an output voltage sense input coupled to sense an input voltage and an output voltage of a power supply. A current limit circuit includes a first variable resistance coupled in parallel with a second variable resistance. The first variable resistance responsive the input voltage of the power supply and the second variable resistance is responsive to the output voltage of the power supply. The current limit circuit is…
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INPUT CHARGE CONTROL OF A POWER SUPPLY
Granted: February 28, 2013
Application Number:
20130051087
An example method of controlling a power supply to have a constant current output includes receiving an input current sense signal, an input voltage sense signal, and an output voltage sense signal. A control signal is then generated to control switching of a switch of the power supply to regulate an output current of the power supply. The generating of the control signal includes integrating the input current sense signal during a switching period of the control signal to generate an…
LAYOUT DESIGN FOR A HIGH POWER, GaN-BASED FET
Granted: February 21, 2013
Application Number:
20130043487
A FET includes a first and second set of finger arrays that each include a source, gate and drain. A first source pad is electrically coupled to source electrodes in the first set of finger arrays. A second source pad is electrically coupled to the source electrodes in the second set of finger arrays. A common drain pad is electrically coupled to drain electrodes in the first and second set of finger arrays. A first gate pad is electrically coupled to gate electrodes in the first set of…
SMOOTH MODE TRANSITION PLATEAU FOR A POWER SUPPLY CONTROLLER
Granted: February 7, 2013
Application Number:
20130033902
A power converter controller is disclosed. An example controller includes a drive signal generator coupled to generate a drive signal to control a switching of a power switch to control a transfer of energy from an input of a power supply to an output of the power supply. A feedback circuit is coupled to receive a feedback signal representative of the output of the power supply. The feedback circuit coupled to generate a control signal in response to the feedback signal. An oscillator…
VARYING SWITCHING FREQUENCY AND PERIOD OF A POWER SUPPLY CONTROLLER
Granted: January 31, 2013
Application Number:
20130027990
An example integrated circuit controller for use in a switching power supply includes a pulse width modulation (PWM) circuit and a timing circuit. The PWM circuit controls a switch to regulate an output of the power supply in response to a switch current flowing through the switch and in response to a clock signal having a switching period. The timing circuit provides the clock signal and increases the switching period in response to an on time of the switch exceeding a threshold time.
ADJACENT TERMINAL FAULT DETECTION
Granted: January 31, 2013
Application Number:
20130027815
This relates to detecting unwanted couplings between a protected terminal and other terminals in an integrated controller of a power supply. Offset and clamp circuitry may apply a positive or negative offset voltage and clamp current to one or more terminals of the controller. In the event that a terminal having the offset voltage and clamp current is accidentally coupled to the protected terminal, the offset voltage and clamp current may be applied to the protected terminal. The…
