Narrow Results

Many of the new high-speed high-integration density Integrated Circuits (ICs) and future generation of microprocessor powering requirements can be successfully achieved with voltage-mode hysteretic control applied to interleaved multiphase Point-of-Load (POL) DC–DC converters or Voltage Regulator Modules (VRMs). This is because of the several advantages that can be achieved by combining the advantages of hysteretic control and interleaving. However, there are several challenges in combining the two techniques, the most prominent being the current sharing and equalization between the interleaved phases. In this communication, we present a solution based on a real-time DSP controller. Challenges of the implementation will be discussed and experimental results obtained from a prototype will be presented.

This paper proposes a high-voltage high-efficiency peak-current-mode asynchronous DC–DC step-down converter operating with dual operation modes. The asynchronous buck converter achieves higher efficiency in light load condition compared to synchronous buck converters. Furthermore, the proposed buck converter switches operation mode automatically from pulse-width modulation (PWM) mode to pulse-skipping mode (PSM). By reducing power MOS on-state resistance and optimizing rise/fall time of switches, the proposed buck converter also obtains high efficiency under heavy load condition. The maximum efficiency of the proposed buck converter is 92.9%, implemented with 0.35$\mu$m BCDMOS 2P3M process, and the total size is 1.1$\times$ 1.2mm². The input range and output range of the converter are 6–30 V, and ($V_{\mathrm{\text{input}}}$–3) V, respectively, with the maximum output current of 3 A. Moreover, its built-in current loop leads to good transient response characteristics. Therefore, it can be used widely in communication system and 12 V/24 V distributed power system.