Systems and methods for measuring inductor current in a switching DC-to-DC converter

摘要

A switch control circuit may be utilized for a sequence of switching events: a first event to activate a first switch and deactivate a second switch, wherein a current of an inductor coupled to the first switch and the second switch increases during the first event and has a positive value at an end of the first event; a second event to deactivate the first switch and activate the second switch, wherein the current of an inductor coupled to the first switch and the second switch decreases during the second event; and an impedance event during one of the first event and the second event such that during one of the first event and the second event, the impedance event causes an impedance of the one of the first switch and the second switch to decrease.

主权项

1. A method of operating a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) switch converter, comprising:
operating the DC-DC switch converter having a switch control circuit that controls a first switch and a second switch; utilizing the switch control circuit for a sequence of switching events wherein the switching events are events that occur in an order of a first event and a second event for:
performing the first event to activate the first switch and deactivate the second switch, wherein a current of an inductor coupled to the first switch and the second switch increases during the first event and has a positive value at an end of the first event;performing the second event to deactivate the first switch and activate the second switch, wherein the current of an inductor coupled to the first switch and the second switch decreases during the second event; andperforming an impedance event during one of the first event and the second event such that at least one of the following occurs:
during the first event, the impedance event causes an impedance of the first switch to decrease from a first impedance to a second impedance; andduring the second event, the impedance event causes an impedance of the second switch to increase from a third impedance to a fourth impedance; and measuring a voltage, the voltage comprising one of:
a first voltage of the first switch while the first switch has the first impedance; anda second voltage of the second switch while the second switch has the fourth impedance.