Passgate strength calibration techniques for voltage regulators

摘要

Systems and methods are provided to regulate a supply voltage of a load circuit. For example, a system includes a voltage regulator circuit that includes a passgate device. The system includes a passgate strength calibration control module which is configured to (i) obtain information which specifies operating conditions of the voltage regulator circuit, (ii) access entries of one or more look-up tables using the obtained information, (iii) use information within the accessed entries to determine a maximum load current that could be demanded by the load circuit under the operating conditions specified by the obtained information, and to predict a passgate device width which is sufficient to supply the determined maximum load current, and (iv) set an active width of the passgate device according to the predicted passgate device width.

主权项

1. A method for regulating a voltage, comprising:
obtaining information that specifies operating conditions of a voltage regulator circuit having a passgate device, which regulates a supply voltage of a load circuit; predicting a passgate device width which is sufficient to supply a maximum load current of the load circuit that is demandable by the load circuit under the operating conditions specified by the obtained information; and setting an active width of the passgate device according to the predicted passgate device width, wherein predicting the passgate device width comprises using the obtained information to access information from at least one look-up table and predicting the passgate device width based on the accessed information; wherein the obtained information comprises an operating frequency of the load circuit, an input voltage of the voltage regulator circuit, and a regulated output voltage of the voltage regulator circuit; and wherein the accessed information comprises: the maximum load current of the load circuit as a function of the operating frequency of the load circuit and the regulated output voltage of the voltage regulator circuit; and the passgate device width as a function of the input voltage of the voltage regulator circuit and the regulated output voltage of the voltage regulator circuit.