GB2596735A - Reallocation of regulator phases within a phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus - Google Patents

Reallocation of regulator phases within a phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2596735A
GB2596735A GB2114551.1A GB202114551A GB2596735A GB 2596735 A GB2596735 A GB 2596735A GB 202114551 A GB202114551 A GB 202114551A GB 2596735 A GB2596735 A GB 2596735A
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United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
phase
regulator
spare
phases
voltage regulator
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Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB2114551.1A
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GB202114551D0 (en
GB2596735B (en
Inventor
Lee Miller Michael
Swenson Eric
Egan Patrick
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International Business Machines Corp
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International Business Machines Corp
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Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US16/364,967 external-priority patent/US10739803B1/en
Priority claimed from US16/365,002 external-priority patent/US10615691B1/en
Application filed by International Business Machines Corp filed Critical International Business Machines Corp
Publication of GB202114551D0 publication Critical patent/GB202114551D0/en
Publication of GB2596735A publication Critical patent/GB2596735A/en
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Publication of GB2596735B publication Critical patent/GB2596735B/en
Active legal-status Critical Current
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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
    • H02M1/00—Details of apparatus for conversion
    • H02M1/32—Means for protecting converters other than automatic disconnection
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
    • H02M3/00—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output
    • H02M3/02—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac
    • H02M3/04—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters
    • H02M3/10—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode
    • H02M3/145—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal
    • H02M3/155—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only
    • H02M3/156—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators
    • H02M3/158—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load
    • H02M3/1584—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load with a plurality of power processing stages connected in parallel
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
    • H02M1/00—Details of apparatus for conversion
    • H02M1/32—Means for protecting converters other than automatic disconnection
    • H02M1/325—Means for protecting converters other than automatic disconnection with means for allowing continuous operation despite a fault, i.e. fault tolerant converters
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02M—APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF
    • H02M3/00—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output
    • H02M3/02—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac
    • H02M3/04—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters
    • H02M3/10—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode
    • H02M3/145—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal
    • H02M3/155—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only
    • H02M3/156—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators
    • H02M3/158—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load
    • H02M3/1584—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load with a plurality of power processing stages connected in parallel
    • H02M3/1586—Conversion of dc power input into dc power output without intermediate conversion into ac by static converters using discharge tubes with control electrode or semiconductor devices with control electrode using devices of a triode or transistor type requiring continuous application of a control signal using semiconductor devices only with automatic control of output voltage or current, e.g. switching regulators including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load with a plurality of power processing stages connected in parallel switched with a phase shift, i.e. interleaved

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Dc-Dc Converters (AREA)

Abstract

A phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus includes groups of regulator phases, each having a multi-phase controller (MPC) connected to each regulator phase. The MPC transfers, to control logic, phase fault signals and either a pulse-width modulation (PWM) or a shared current (ISHARE) phase control signal received from each dedicated regulator phase of a phase group. Spare regulator phases include output ORing devices to limit current flow into spare regulator phase outputs. Output switching devices are configured to electrically couple spare regulator phase outputs to a common regulator output. Control logic is connected to the phase groups MPC and asserts phase enable signals to, transfer phase control signals to, and receives phase fault signals from the spare regulator phases. The control logic electrically interconnects a spare regulator phase to a phase group including a failed regulator phase in response to receiving a phase fault signal from an MPC.

Claims (20)

1. A phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus comprising: a plurality of regulator phases, each including a regulator electrically coupled to receive, at a regulator input, an input voltage and provide, at a regulator output, a respective output voltage; a set of phase groups of the plurality of regulator phases including a first and a second phase group, each phase group including; a common regulator input electrically interconnected to regulator inputs of regulators of the phase group; a common regulator output electrically interconnected to regulator outputs of regulators of the phase group; at least one redundant regulator phase; at least one dedicated regulator phase of the plurality of regulator phases; at least one spare regulator phase of a set of spare regulator phases; a multi-phase controller (MPC) electrically coupled to each dedicated regulator phase of the phase group, the MPC configured to transfer, to control logic, phase fault signals and one of a pulse-width modulation (PWM) and a shared current (ISHARE) phase control signal received from each dedicated regulator phase of a respective phase group; and the set of spare regulator phases of the plurality of regulator phases including a first and a second spare regulator phase, each spare regulator phase including: a secondary output ORing device electrically coupled and configured to limit current flow into a secondary output of the spare regulator phase; a first output switching device configured to, in response to a first phase enable signal, electrically couple the regulator output of the spare regulator phase to a first common regulator output; and a second output switching device configured to, in response to a second phase enable signal, electrically couple the regulator output of the spare regulator phase to a second common regulator output; and control logic, electrically connected to: MPCs of each phase group of the set of phase groups, the control logic configured to receive the phase control signals from, and exchange phase fault signals with the MPCs; and spare regulator phases of the set of spare regulator phases, the control logic configured to assert phase enable signals to, transfer the phase control signals to, and receive phase fault signals from the spare regulator phases; the control logic configured to, in response to receiving a phase fault signal from an MPC, electrically interconnect a spare regulator phase to a phase group that includes a failed regulator phase.
2. The phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus of claim 1 , each dedicated regulator phase of the plurality of regulator phases further including: a phase-redundant controller (PRC) configured to monitor current at the regulator input and further configured to monitor current and voltage at the regulator output; an output ORing device configured to limit current flow into a primary output of a respective dedicated regulator phase; and an input protection device configured to provide, in response to a control signal from the PRC, input overcurrent protection and output overvoltage protection to the respective dedicated regulator phase.
3. The phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the MPC of each phase group is further configured to: receive a feedback output voltage and receive a respective detected current signal from each dedicated regulator phase of the phase group; generate PWM or ISHARE control signals to sequentially activate each dedicated regulator phase of the phase group for predetermined periods of time, the PWM or ISHARE control signals managing controlled current-sharing between phases; and maintain, following a failure of one or more regulator phase of the phase group, current-sharing between all active regulator phases of the phase group.
4. The phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each PWM or ISHARE control signal is a digital signal that represents, through a series of pulse widths, a duty cycle/activation time of at least one regulator phase.
5. The phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the output ORing device and the secondary output ORing device are each selected from the group consisting of: an N-channel field-effect transistor (NFET), a P-channel field-effect transistor (PFET), an NPN transistor, and a PNP transistor.
6. The phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a regulator serial interface of an MPC is coupled to a system control function through a serial control bus selected from the group consisting of: an Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) interface, a Power Management Bus (PMBus) interface, and an Inter-Integrated Circuit (l2C) interface.
7. The phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first phase group of the set of phase groups is configured to maintain current sharing.
8. A method for reallocating a set of spare voltage regulator phases between phase groups of voltage regulator phases, the method comprising using control logic that is responsive to a system control function and responsive to monitored phase fault signals received from the phase groups to: store, into a non-volatile memory within the control logic, an association between a first portion of the set of spare voltage regulator phases and an "allocatedâ status; store, with the control logic, into the non-volatile memory within the control logic, an association between a second portion of the set of spare voltage regulator phases and an "unallocatedâ status; detect, with the control logic, a phase fault signal from a first compromised phase group of the phase groups; and transfer, in response to detecting the phase fault signal, at least one spare voltage regulator phase of the second portion of the set of spare voltage regulator phases to the first compromised phase group.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the phase fault signal is selected from the group consisting of: a phase single-fault signal, a phase double-fault signal, and a spare phase fault signal.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one spare voltage regulator phase is reallocated in response to commands received from a system control function.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the transfer of the at least one spare voltage regulator phase to the first compromised phase group includes transferring at least one spare voltage regulator phase to a second compromised phase group.
12. The method of claim 8, wherein the set of spare voltage regulator phases includes voltage regulator phases that were designated as spare voltage regulator phases in response to a system throttle operation.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein the set of spare voltage regulator phases includes voltage regulator phases designated as spare voltage regulator phases in response to a system throttle operation.
14. The method of claim 8, wherein the set of spare voltage regulator phases includes voltage regulator phases in excess of a number of voltage regulator phases specified as required for a voltage regulator phase.
15. A method for reallocating a set of spare voltage regulator phases between phase groups of voltage regulator phases, the method comprising using control logic that is responsive to a system control function and responsive to monitored phase fault signals received from the phase groups to: store, into a non-volatile memory within the control logic, an association between a first portion of the set of spare voltage regulator phases and an "allocatedâ status; store, with the control logic, into the non-volatile memory within the control logic, an association between a second portion of the set of spare voltage regulator phases and an "unallocatedâ status; detect, with the control logic, a phase fault signal from a first compromised phase group of the phase groups; and transfer, in response to detecting the phase fault signal, at least one spare voltage regulator phase of the second portion of the set of spare voltage regulator phases to the first compromised phase group.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the phase fault signal is selected from the group consisting of: a phase single-fault signal, a phase double-fault signal, and a spare phase fault signal.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one spare voltage regulator phase is reallocated in response to commands received from a system control function.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein the transfer of the at least one spare voltage regulator phase to the first compromised phase group includes transferring at least one spare voltage regulator phase to a second compromised phase group.
19. The method of claim 15, wherein the set of spare voltage regulator phases includes voltage regulator phases that were designated as spare voltage regulator phases in response to a system throttle operation.
20. The method of claim 15, wherein the set of spare voltage regulator phases includes voltage regulator phases designated as spare voltage regulator phases in response to a system throttle operation.
GB2114551.1A 2019-03-26 2020-03-16 Reallocation of regulator phases within a phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus Active GB2596735B (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US16/364,967 US10739803B1 (en) 2019-03-26 2019-03-26 Reallocation of regulator phases within a phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus
US16/365,002 US10615691B1 (en) 2019-03-26 2019-03-26 Reallocation of regulator phases within a phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus
PCT/IB2020/052381 WO2020194120A1 (en) 2019-03-26 2020-03-16 Reallocation of regulator phases within a phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB202114551D0 GB202114551D0 (en) 2021-11-24
GB2596735A true GB2596735A (en) 2022-01-05
GB2596735B GB2596735B (en) 2023-05-10

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GB2114551.1A Active GB2596735B (en) 2019-03-26 2020-03-16 Reallocation of regulator phases within a phase-redundant voltage regulator apparatus

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JP (1) JP7394865B2 (en)
CN (1) CN113544956A (en)
DE (1) DE112020000249T5 (en)
GB (1) GB2596735B (en)
WO (1) WO2020194120A1 (en)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US11750079B2 (en) * 2020-12-10 2023-09-05 International Business Machines Corporation Voltage regulation module with adaptive spare converters

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE112020000249T5 (en) 2021-08-26
WO2020194120A1 (en) 2020-10-01
GB202114551D0 (en) 2021-11-24
JP2022525073A (en) 2022-05-11
GB2596735B (en) 2023-05-10
CN113544956A (en) 2021-10-22
JP7394865B2 (en) 2023-12-08

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