MULTI-PHASE AND MULTI-MODULE POWER SUPPLIES WITH BALANCED CURRENT BETWEEN PHASES AND MODULES

WIPO Patent Application WO2001037413

A9

A multi-phase power supply utilizes a current sensor including a sensor inductor winding connected in parallel with a filter inductor winding at the output of each phase for sensing the phase currents and balancing the current by adjusting the duty cycle of each phase through feedback control. In addition, in a multi-module power supply configuration, current between power supply modules is balanced through use of the same current sensor and current sharing technique. Each phase of the power supply includes at least one input power source and a current sensor. The sensor inductor winding and the filter inductor winding have the same number of turns and are wound about a magnetic core also present at each phase. A differential amplifier at each phase senses and amplifies any voltage difference between the outputs of the sensor inductor winding and the corresponding filter inductor winding. A current-sharing bus is formed between each of the phases, carrying the summed and averaged outputs from all the differential amplifiers. A feedback correction circuit at each phase utilizes the voltage on the current-sharing bus as a reference to control a pulse width modulator in adjusting the duty cycle of the corresponding phase, thereby balancing the load current among the phases. In a multi-module, multi-phase power supply, the current-sharing bus and a voltage-sharing bus are extended between each module and the phases of each module to achieve the same current balancing between all phases and modules.

YANG ERIC
GUO JASON

PCT/US2000/042060

November 14, 2002

November 10, 2000

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SEMTECH CORP (US)

H02M3/158; (IPC1-7): H02M3/158; H02M3/156

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