US20150207413A1 - Hybrid power supply architecture - Google Patents
Hybrid power supply architecture Download PDFInfo
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- US20150207413A1 US20150207413A1 US14/490,719 US201414490719A US2015207413A1 US 20150207413 A1 US20150207413 A1 US 20150207413A1 US 201414490719 A US201414490719 A US 201414490719A US 2015207413 A1 US2015207413 A1 US 2015207413A1
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- power
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- 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
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- G—PHYSICS
- G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
- G05F—SYSTEMS FOR REGULATING ELECTRIC OR MAGNETIC VARIABLES
- G05F1/00—Automatic systems in which deviations of an electric quantity from one or more predetermined values are detected at the output of the system and fed back to a device within the system to restore the detected quantity to its predetermined value or values, i.e. retroactive systems
- G05F1/10—Regulating voltage or current
- G05F1/46—Regulating voltage or current wherein the variable actually regulated by the final control device is dc
- G05F1/56—Regulating voltage or current wherein the variable actually regulated by the final control device is dc using semiconductor devices in series with the load as final control devices
- G05F1/575—Regulating voltage or current wherein the variable actually regulated by the final control device is dc using semiconductor devices in series with the load as final control devices characterised by the feedback circuit
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- 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
- H02M1/0003—Details of control, feedback or regulation circuits
- H02M1/0032—Control circuits allowing low power mode operation, e.g. in standby mode
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- 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
- H02M1/0045—Converters combining the concepts of switch-mode regulation and linear regulation, e.g. linear pre-regulator to switching converter, linear and switching converter in parallel, same converter or same transistor operating either in linear or switching mode
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
- Y02B70/00—Technologies for an efficient end-user side electric power management and consumption
- Y02B70/10—Technologies improving the efficiency by using switched-mode power supplies [SMPS], i.e. efficient power electronics conversion e.g. power factor correction or reduction of losses in power supplies or efficient standby modes
Definitions
- the present invention generally relates to a hybrid power supply architecture, and more specifically to a hybrid power supply architecture actuating a linear regulator and/or a switching regulator based on a loading state so as to achieve optimal electrical efficiency of seamless switching for supplying hybrid power.
- Linear regulation generally employs linear electronic components such as operational amplifier to co-operate with some voltage or current sensing circuit so as to control the output unit such as power transistor, thereby generating a stable output power by dynamical regulation according to the loading.
- the PWM signal with high frequency component is used to control and turn on/off the specific transistor such that the original input power is converted into the output power with specific voltage, current or electric power.
- noise components in the input power are screened out, achieving the object of power regulation and/or power conversion.
- linear regulation and switching regulation consume part of electric power supplied by the input power, leading to inevitable operation loss which changes with the loading.
- linear regulation has lower operation loss at light loading
- switching regulation has lower operation loss at heavy loading.
- linear regulation is suitable for the application of light loading
- switching regulation is preferred for heavy loading.
- the primary object of the present invention is to provide a hybrid power supply architecture for converting an input power into an output power with different voltage and current compared to the input power, and further supplying the output power to an external load.
- the hybrid power supply architecture comprises a microcontroller, a linear regulator, a first current sensing unit, a switching regulator, a second current sensing unit and a hybrid output stage.
- the linear regulator and the switching regulator respectively perform linear regulation and switching regulation according to the first and second enable signals generated by the microcontroller so as to generate a linear power and a switching power.
- the first and second current sensing units respectively sense the linear power and the switching power to generate a first current sensing signal and a second current sensing signal.
- the microcontroller receives the first and second current sensing signals to determine the loading state is light or heavy. Specifically, the microcontroller turns on the linear regulator and turns off the switching regulator at the beginning of supplying the input power, and then turns on the switching regulator when the loading state becomes heavy.
- the linear regulator is turned off only when the switching output power is steady.
- the microcontroller turns on the linear regulator when the loading state becomes light, and the switching regulator is turned off only when the linear output power becomes steady.
- the present invention may control the linear regulator and the switching regulator based on the loading state such that the linear regulator and/or the switching regulator is turned on/off for light and heavy loading, thereby increasing the efficiency of power conversion. Especially, during the switching period for the light loading or the heavy loading, the linear regulator and the switching regulator are still kept working so as to maintain stability of the output power and achieve seamless switching hybrid power supply, thereby effectively protecting the external load.
- FIG. 1 is a system diagram of the hybrid power supply architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 2 is an illustrative circuit of the linear regulator of the hybrid power supply architecture according to the present invention
- FIG. 3 is an illustrative circuit of the switching regulator of the hybrid power supply architecture according to the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is an illustrative circuit of the hybrid output stage of the hybrid power supply architecture according to the present invention.
- the hybrid power supply architecture of the present invention generally comprises a microcontroller 10 , a linear regulator 20 , a first current sensing unit 21 , a switching regulator 30 , a second current sensing unit 31 and a hybrid output stage 40 .
- the microcontroller 10 is configured to perform a preset control operation such that the input power Vin is converted into the output power Vout supplied to the external load RL.
- the linear regulator 20 provides linear regulation under control of the microcontroller 10 , thereby receiving and converting the input power Vin into a linear output power V 1 .
- the switching regulator 30 performs linear regulation under control of the microcontroller 10 so as to receive and convert the input power Vin into a switching output power V 2 .
- the hybrid output stage 40 receives and combines the linear output power V 1 and the switching output power V 2 to generate the output power Vout.
- the hybrid output stage 40 provides a current isolation function to prevent the respective currents of the linear output power V 1 and the switching output power V 2 from interfering with each other. In other words, the current of the linear output power V 1 does not flow into the current of the switching output power V 2 , and accordingly, the current of the switching output power V 2 does not flow into the current of the linear output power V 1 .
- first current sensing unit 21 and the second current sensing unit 31 respectively sense the linear output power V 1 and the switching output power V 2 , more specifically the respective loading currents of the linear output power V 1 and the switching output power V 2 .
- the first current sensing signal CS 1 and the second current sensing signal CS 2 are thus generated, representative of the loading state or the loading degree.
- the microcontroller 10 receives the first current sensing signal CS 1 and the second current sensing signal CS 2 and determines the loading state is light or heavy so as to actuate (turn on) or cease (turn off) the operation of the linear regulator 20 and the switching regulator 30 .
- the microcontroller 10 may first turn on the linear regulator 20 and turn off the switching regulator 30 when the input power Vin is supplied at the very beginning. This is because the loading current is initially zero and the loading state is considered to be light. Thus, the output power Vout of the hybrid output stage 40 contains only the linear output power V 1 from the linear regulator 20 . Subsequently, as the loading state gradually reaches a stable state, the first current sensing signal CS 1 from the first current sensing unit 21 by sensing the linear output power V 1 is received by the microcontroller 10 and used to determine whether the current loading state becomes heavy, like the first current sensing signal CS 1 exceeding a preset threshold value.
- the linear regulator 20 is kept turned on and the switching regulator 30 is turned off. IF the loading state changes from light to heavy, the switching regulator 30 is turned on and at the same time the linear regulator 20 is also turned on, and subsequently the linear regulator 20 is turned off only when the switched output power V 2 of the switching regulator 30 is stable or steady. In other words, during the transient period when the loading state becomes heavy from light and the switched output power V 2 is not stable, the linear regulator 20 and the switching regulator 30 concurrently operate to provide the linear output power V 1 and the switched output power V 2 , respectively.
- the microcontroller 10 may determine whether the loading state is kept heavy based on the second current sensing signal CS 2 from the second current sensing unit 31 . If the loading state is heavy, the switching regulator 30 is kept turned on and the linear regulator 20 is turned off. When the loading state changes from heavy to light, the microcontroller 10 first turns on the linear regulator 20 and the operation of the switching regulator 30 is still kept working. Only when the linear output power V 1 becomes steady or stable, the switching regulator 30 is turned off. That is, during the transient period when the loading state changes from heavy to light and the linear output power V 1 is not steady, the linear regulator 20 and the switching regulator 30 operate together.
- the respective normal regulations of the linear regulator 20 and the switching regulator 30 overlap during the transient period so as to fulfill the object of seamless switching, thereby greatly improving stability of the output power Vout.
- the microcontroller 10 performs a control operation consisting of specific steps, which will be described in detail as below.
- the switching regulator 30 is turned on, and subsequently only when the switching output power V 2 of the switching regulator 30 becomes stable or steady, the linear regulator 20 is turned off. Then, if the loading state of the switching output power V 2 is still heavy, the linear regulator 20 is kept turned off and the switching regulator 30 turned on. When the loading state of the switching output power V 2 changes from heavy to light, the linear regulator 20 is immediately turned on with the switching regulator 30 still turned on. Next, the switching regulator 30 is turned off only when the linear output power V 1 of the linear regulator 20 becomes stable or steady. Subsequently, return back to the sensing and determining step and repeat the operations as mentioned above.
- FIG. 2 shows an illustrative circuit of the linear regulator 20 and the first current sensing unit 21 of the present invention
- FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary circuit of the switching regulator 30 and the second current sensing unit 31 of the present invention
- FIG. 4 is an illustrative circuit of the hybrid output stage 40 of the present invention.
- the circuits shown in FIGS. 2 , 3 and 4 are typical examples of the present invention and only intended to clearly and practically explain the features of the hybrid power supply architecture according to the present invention. That is, the scope of the present invention is not limited by the above illustrative examples, and the specific electronic components in FIGS. 2 , 3 and 4 may substantially include other elements or devices having equivalent electrical functions.
- the linear regulator 20 comprises a first buffer BUF 1 , a pull-up resistor R 11 , a pull-down resistor R 12 , an operational amplifier OP and a first transistor MOS 1 , and the first current sensing unit 21 comprises a first operational amplifier OPS 1 and a first sensing resistor RS 1 .
- the first buffer BUF 1 receives the first enable signal EN 1 from the microcontroller 10 , and generates and transmits a buffered output signal to a non-inverse input port of the operational amplifier OP so as to turn on the linear regulator 20 for linear regulation.
- the non-inverse input port is further connected to the pull-up resistor R 11 and the pull-down resistor R 12 to perform a clamping effect, thereby preventing the buffered output signal of the first buffer BUF 1 from being too high or too low.
- the operational amplifier OP is well protected.
- an inverse input port of the operational amplifier OP is connected to the linear output power V 1 and generates a first control signal fed to a gate of the first transistor MOS 1 for controlling the first transistor MOS 1 to turn on or off.
- a source of the first transistor MOS 1 generates a first notice signal PG 1 .
- the first sensing resistor RS 1 is connected between the input power Vin and a drain of the first transistor MOS 1 , and further connected to a non-inverse input port and an inverse input port of the first operational amplifier OPS 1 such that the voltage of the first sensing resistor RS 1 is amplified by the first operational amplifier OPS 1 and the first current sensing signal CS 1 is generated by an output port of the first operational amplifier OPS 1 .
- the switching regulator 30 generally comprises a second buffer BUF 2 , a pull-up resistor R 2 , a Pulse Width Modulation(PWM) controller 32 , an another pull-up resistor R 3 , a second transistor MOS 2 and a third transistor MOS 3 , and the second current sensing unit 31 comprises a second operational amplifier OPS 2 and a second sensing resistor RS 2 .
- the second buffer BUF 2 of the switching regulator 30 is configured to receive the second enable signal EN 2 from the microcontroller 10 and generates and transmits a buffered output signal corresponding to the second enable signal EN 2 to the PWM controller 32 so as to turn on the PWM controller 32 for performing a switching regulation function.
- the PWM controller 32 receives the switching output power V 2 and generates a second notice signal PG 2 indicating that the switching output power V 2 is stable.
- the second notice signal is further transmitted to the microcontroller.
- the PWM controller 32 generates two PWM signals according to the switching output power V 2 for driving a gate of the second transistor MOS 2 and a gate of the third transistor MOS 3 , respectively.
- a source of the second transistor MOS 2 is connected to a drain of the third transistor MOS 3 , and a source of the third transistor MOS 3 is grounded.
- the second sensing resistor RS 2 of the second current sensing unit 31 is connected between the input power Vin and a drain of the second transistor MOS 2 and further connected to a non-inverse input port and an inverse input port of the second operational amplifier POS 2 , and an output port of the second operational amplifier OPS 2 generates the second current sensing signal, CS 2 .
- the hybrid output stage 40 comprises a first diode D 1 , a choke coil LCH and a second diode D 2 .
- a positive end of the first diode D 1 is connected to the first notice signal PG 1
- a negative end of the first diode D 1 is connected to the linear output power V 1 .
- One end of the choke coil LCH is connected to the switching output power V 2
- another end of the choke coil LCH is connected to a positive end of the second diode D 2
- a negative end of the second diode D 2 is connected to the linear output power V 1 . Therefore, the current of the linear output power V 1 and the switching output power V 2 are electrically isolated with by the second diode D 2 with rectification, thereby achieving the object of preventing the respective currents from interfering with other.
- one aspect of the present invention is that the microcontroller dynamically turns on/off the linear regulator and/or the switching regulator to actuate/cease regulation based on the loading state.
- the linear regulator and the switching regulator can perform linear regulation and switching regulation for light and heavy loading, respectively, thereby greatly increasing the overall efficiency of power conversion.
- the linear regulator and the switching regulator operate together during the transient period when the loading state changes from light to heavy or from heavy to light.
- the linear regulator is turned off only when the loading state is heavy and the switching output power becomes stable or steady.
- the switching regulator is turned off only when the loading state is light and the linear output power is stable or steady. Therefore, the output power is firmly stabilized so as to fulfill the purpose of power supply with seamless switching.
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Abstract
Description
- This application claims the priority of Taiwanese patent application No. 103102177, filed on Jan. 21, 2014, which is incorporated herewith by reference.
- 1. Field of the Invention
- The present invention generally relates to a hybrid power supply architecture, and more specifically to a hybrid power supply architecture actuating a linear regulator and/or a switching regulator based on a loading state so as to achieve optimal electrical efficiency of seamless switching for supplying hybrid power.
- 2. The Prior Arts
- For electronic devices with different electrical properties, it is generally needed to provide various power sources having appropriate voltage, current or electric power. For instance, electric motors are actuated by 12DCV, analog chips are fed with 3.3V, and digital chips operate at 1.8V. Therefore, power management manufacturers have developed kinds of power regulation device to meet the requirement of the market. Additionally, some voltage regulators with the function of stabilizing the output voltage are needed when the original input power is possibly unstable, like the city power resulting in instant fluctuation of the output voltage due to imbalance of loading. Alternatively, when the output voltage or the output current becomes unstable because the ability of the power supply is limited and fierce variation of the loading is not overcome, the voltage regulator is also necessary.
- Two typical schemes including linear regulation and switching regulation have been widely used in the common application field of electronic devices. Linear regulation generally employs linear electronic components such as operational amplifier to co-operate with some voltage or current sensing circuit so as to control the output unit such as power transistor, thereby generating a stable output power by dynamical regulation according to the loading. For switching regulation, the PWM signal with high frequency component is used to control and turn on/off the specific transistor such that the original input power is converted into the output power with specific voltage, current or electric power. At the same time, noise components in the input power are screened out, achieving the object of power regulation and/or power conversion.
- Practically, both linear regulation and switching regulation consume part of electric power supplied by the input power, leading to inevitable operation loss which changes with the loading. For example, linear regulation has lower operation loss at light loading, and switching regulation has lower operation loss at heavy loading. In other words, linear regulation is suitable for the application of light loading, and switching regulation is preferred for heavy loading. As a result, it is impossible to use only one of linear regulation and switching regulation to substantially reduce the overall operation loss when the variation range of loading is large, further causing low electrical efficiency.
- Therefore, it greatly needs a new hybrid power supply architecture to dynamically switch the linear regulation and the switching regulation based on the actual electrical loading. In particular, the purpose of power supply with seamless switching is successfully fulfilled, and low power consumption and stable output power are implemented, thereby overcoming the problems in the prior arts.
- The primary object of the present invention is to provide a hybrid power supply architecture for converting an input power into an output power with different voltage and current compared to the input power, and further supplying the output power to an external load. The hybrid power supply architecture comprises a microcontroller, a linear regulator, a first current sensing unit, a switching regulator, a second current sensing unit and a hybrid output stage. The linear regulator and the switching regulator respectively perform linear regulation and switching regulation according to the first and second enable signals generated by the microcontroller so as to generate a linear power and a switching power. The first and second current sensing units respectively sense the linear power and the switching power to generate a first current sensing signal and a second current sensing signal. The microcontroller receives the first and second current sensing signals to determine the loading state is light or heavy. Specifically, the microcontroller turns on the linear regulator and turns off the switching regulator at the beginning of supplying the input power, and then turns on the switching regulator when the loading state becomes heavy.
- In particular, the linear regulator is turned off only when the switching output power is steady. Similarly, the microcontroller turns on the linear regulator when the loading state becomes light, and the switching regulator is turned off only when the linear output power becomes steady.
- In other words, the present invention may control the linear regulator and the switching regulator based on the loading state such that the linear regulator and/or the switching regulator is turned on/off for light and heavy loading, thereby increasing the efficiency of power conversion. Especially, during the switching period for the light loading or the heavy loading, the linear regulator and the switching regulator are still kept working so as to maintain stability of the output power and achieve seamless switching hybrid power supply, thereby effectively protecting the external load.
- The present invention can be understood in more detail by reading the subsequent detailed description in conjunction with the examples and references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
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FIG. 1 is a system diagram of the hybrid power supply architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 2 is an illustrative circuit of the linear regulator of the hybrid power supply architecture according to the present invention; -
FIG. 3 is an illustrative circuit of the switching regulator of the hybrid power supply architecture according to the present invention; and -
FIG. 4 is an illustrative circuit of the hybrid output stage of the hybrid power supply architecture according to the present invention. - The present invention may be embodied in various forms and the details of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in the subsequent content with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings (not to scale) show and depict only the preferred embodiments of the invention and shall not be considered as limitations to the scope of the present invention. Modifications of the shape of the present invention shall too be considered to be within the spirit of the present invention.
- Please refer to
FIG. 1 illustrating a system diagram of the hybrid power supply architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 1 , the hybrid power supply architecture of the present invention generally comprises amicrocontroller 10, alinear regulator 20, a firstcurrent sensing unit 21, aswitching regulator 30, a secondcurrent sensing unit 31 and ahybrid output stage 40. Themicrocontroller 10 is configured to perform a preset control operation such that the input power Vin is converted into the output power Vout supplied to the external load RL. - More specifically, the
linear regulator 20 provides linear regulation under control of themicrocontroller 10, thereby receiving and converting the input power Vin into a linear output power V1. Similarly, theswitching regulator 30 performs linear regulation under control of themicrocontroller 10 so as to receive and convert the input power Vin into a switching output power V2. Thehybrid output stage 40 receives and combines the linear output power V1 and the switching output power V2 to generate the output power Vout. Furthermore, thehybrid output stage 40 provides a current isolation function to prevent the respective currents of the linear output power V1 and the switching output power V2 from interfering with each other. In other words, the current of the linear output power V1 does not flow into the current of the switching output power V2, and accordingly, the current of the switching output power V2 does not flow into the current of the linear output power V1. - Additionally, the first
current sensing unit 21 and the secondcurrent sensing unit 31 respectively sense the linear output power V1 and the switching output power V2, more specifically the respective loading currents of the linear output power V1 and the switching output power V2. The first current sensing signal CS1 and the second current sensing signal CS2 are thus generated, representative of the loading state or the loading degree. - The
microcontroller 10 receives the first current sensing signal CS1 and the second current sensing signal CS2 and determines the loading state is light or heavy so as to actuate (turn on) or cease (turn off) the operation of thelinear regulator 20 and theswitching regulator 30. - In an actual operation, the
microcontroller 10 may first turn on thelinear regulator 20 and turn off theswitching regulator 30 when the input power Vin is supplied at the very beginning. This is because the loading current is initially zero and the loading state is considered to be light. Thus, the output power Vout of thehybrid output stage 40 contains only the linear output power V1 from thelinear regulator 20. Subsequently, as the loading state gradually reaches a stable state, the first current sensing signal CS1 from the firstcurrent sensing unit 21 by sensing the linear output power V1 is received by themicrocontroller 10 and used to determine whether the current loading state becomes heavy, like the first current sensing signal CS1 exceeding a preset threshold value. If the loading state is still light, the same as the original state at the beginning, thelinear regulator 20 is kept turned on and theswitching regulator 30 is turned off. IF the loading state changes from light to heavy, theswitching regulator 30 is turned on and at the same time thelinear regulator 20 is also turned on, and subsequently thelinear regulator 20 is turned off only when the switched output power V2 of theswitching regulator 30 is stable or steady. In other words, during the transient period when the loading state becomes heavy from light and the switched output power V2 is not stable, thelinear regulator 20 and theswitching regulator 30 concurrently operate to provide the linear output power V1 and the switched output power V2, respectively. - Accordingly, the
microcontroller 10 may determine whether the loading state is kept heavy based on the second current sensing signal CS2 from the secondcurrent sensing unit 31. If the loading state is heavy, theswitching regulator 30 is kept turned on and thelinear regulator 20 is turned off. When the loading state changes from heavy to light, themicrocontroller 10 first turns on thelinear regulator 20 and the operation of theswitching regulator 30 is still kept working. Only when the linear output power V1 becomes steady or stable, theswitching regulator 30 is turned off. That is, during the transient period when the loading state changes from heavy to light and the linear output power V1 is not steady, thelinear regulator 20 and the switchingregulator 30 operate together. - Therefore, whether the loading state changes from light to heavy or from heavy to light, the respective normal regulations of the
linear regulator 20 and the switchingregulator 30 overlap during the transient period so as to fulfill the object of seamless switching, thereby greatly improving stability of the output power Vout. - More specifically, the
microcontroller 10 performs a control operation consisting of specific steps, which will be described in detail as below. First, when the input power Vin begins to supply, thelinear regulator 20 is turned on and the switchingregulator 30 is turned off. Next, enter a sensing and determining step for receiving the first and second sensing signals CS1 and CS2 and further determining the loading states of the linear output power V1 and the switching output power V2 based on the first and second sensing signals CS1 and CS2. More specifically, if the loading state of the linear output power V1 is still light, the current situation is maintained, including thelinear regulator 20 turned on and the switchingregulator 30 turned off. If the loading state of the linear output power V1 changes from light to heavy, the switchingregulator 30 is turned on, and subsequently only when the switching output power V2 of the switchingregulator 30 becomes stable or steady, thelinear regulator 20 is turned off. Then, if the loading state of the switching output power V2 is still heavy, thelinear regulator 20 is kept turned off and the switchingregulator 30 turned on. When the loading state of the switching output power V2 changes from heavy to light, thelinear regulator 20 is immediately turned on with the switchingregulator 30 still turned on. Next, the switchingregulator 30 is turned off only when the linear output power V1 of thelinear regulator 20 becomes stable or steady. Subsequently, return back to the sensing and determining step and repeat the operations as mentioned above. - Please further refer to
FIGS. 2 , 3 and 4.FIG. 2 shows an illustrative circuit of thelinear regulator 20 and the firstcurrent sensing unit 21 of the present invention,FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary circuit of the switchingregulator 30 and the second current sensingunit 31 of the present invention, andFIG. 4 is an illustrative circuit of thehybrid output stage 40 of the present invention. It should be noted that the circuits shown inFIGS. 2 , 3 and 4 are typical examples of the present invention and only intended to clearly and practically explain the features of the hybrid power supply architecture according to the present invention. That is, the scope of the present invention is not limited by the above illustrative examples, and the specific electronic components inFIGS. 2 , 3 and 4 may substantially include other elements or devices having equivalent electrical functions. - As shown in
FIG. 2 , thelinear regulator 20 comprises a first buffer BUF1, a pull-up resistor R11, a pull-down resistor R12, an operational amplifier OP and a first transistor MOS1, and the firstcurrent sensing unit 21 comprises a first operational amplifier OPS1 and a first sensing resistor RS1. - The first buffer BUF1 receives the first enable signal EN1 from the
microcontroller 10, and generates and transmits a buffered output signal to a non-inverse input port of the operational amplifier OP so as to turn on thelinear regulator 20 for linear regulation. The non-inverse input port is further connected to the pull-up resistor R11 and the pull-down resistor R12 to perform a clamping effect, thereby preventing the buffered output signal of the first buffer BUF1 from being too high or too low. As a result, the operational amplifier OP is well protected. Additionally, an inverse input port of the operational amplifier OP is connected to the linear output power V1 and generates a first control signal fed to a gate of the first transistor MOS1 for controlling the first transistor MOS1 to turn on or off. A source of the first transistor MOS1 generates a first notice signal PG1. - The first sensing resistor RS1 is connected between the input power Vin and a drain of the first transistor MOS1, and further connected to a non-inverse input port and an inverse input port of the first operational amplifier OPS1 such that the voltage of the first sensing resistor RS1 is amplified by the first operational amplifier OPS1 and the first current sensing signal CS1 is generated by an output port of the first operational amplifier OPS1.
- As shown in
FIG. 3 , the switchingregulator 30 generally comprises a second buffer BUF2, a pull-up resistor R2, a Pulse Width Modulation(PWM)controller 32, an another pull-up resistor R3, a second transistor MOS2 and a third transistor MOS3, and the second current sensingunit 31 comprises a second operational amplifier OPS2 and a second sensing resistor RS2. - The second buffer BUF2 of the switching
regulator 30 is configured to receive the second enable signal EN2 from themicrocontroller 10 and generates and transmits a buffered output signal corresponding to the second enable signal EN2 to thePWM controller 32 so as to turn on thePWM controller 32 for performing a switching regulation function. At the same time, thePWM controller 32 receives the switching output power V2 and generates a second notice signal PG2 indicating that the switching output power V2 is stable. The second notice signal is further transmitted to the microcontroller. Moreover, thePWM controller 32 generates two PWM signals according to the switching output power V2 for driving a gate of the second transistor MOS2 and a gate of the third transistor MOS3, respectively. A source of the second transistor MOS2 is connected to a drain of the third transistor MOS3, and a source of the third transistor MOS3 is grounded. - Specifically, the second sensing resistor RS2 of the second current sensing
unit 31 is connected between the input power Vin and a drain of the second transistor MOS2 and further connected to a non-inverse input port and an inverse input port of the second operational amplifier POS2, and an output port of the second operational amplifier OPS2 generates the second current sensing signal, CS2. - As shown in
FIG. 4 , thehybrid output stage 40 comprises a first diode D1, a choke coil LCH and a second diode D2. A positive end of the first diode D1 is connected to the first notice signal PG1, a negative end of the first diode D1 is connected to the linear output power V1. One end of the choke coil LCH is connected to the switching output power V2, another end of the choke coil LCH is connected to a positive end of the second diode D2, and a negative end of the second diode D2 is connected to the linear output power V1. Therefore, the current of the linear output power V1 and the switching output power V2 are electrically isolated with by the second diode D2 with rectification, thereby achieving the object of preventing the respective currents from interfering with other. - From the above mentioned, one aspect of the present invention is that the microcontroller dynamically turns on/off the linear regulator and/or the switching regulator to actuate/cease regulation based on the loading state. In particular, the linear regulator and the switching regulator can perform linear regulation and switching regulation for light and heavy loading, respectively, thereby greatly increasing the overall efficiency of power conversion.
- Another aspect of the present invention is that the linear regulator and the switching regulator operate together during the transient period when the loading state changes from light to heavy or from heavy to light. The linear regulator is turned off only when the loading state is heavy and the switching output power becomes stable or steady. Similarly, the switching regulator is turned off only when the loading state is light and the linear output power is stable or steady. Therefore, the output power is firmly stabilized so as to fulfill the purpose of power supply with seamless switching.
- Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details described thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Claims (7)
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TW103102177A TWI501064B (en) | 2014-01-21 | 2014-01-21 | Hibrid power supply architecture |
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US20180102662A1 (en) * | 2014-06-30 | 2018-04-12 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Cancel voltage offset of operational amplifier |
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US9099923B1 (en) | 2015-08-04 |
TW201530282A (en) | 2015-08-01 |
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