APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING A HYBRID VOLTAGE REGULATOR

摘要

The present disclosure shows a hybrid regulator topology that can be more easily integrated and that can maintain high efficiency across a wide output and input voltage range, even with a small inductor. The hybrid regulator topology can include two types of regulators: a flying switched-inductor regulator and a step-down regulator that divides the input voltage into an M/N fraction of the input voltage. The disclosed embodiments of the hybrid regulator topology can reduce the capacitive loss of the flying switched-inductor regulator by limiting the voltage swing across the switches in the flying switched-inductor regulator. The disclosed embodiments of the hybrid regulator topology can reduce the inductor resistive loss of the flying switched-inductor regulator by operating the flying switched-inductor regulator at a high switching frequency and with a small amount of current flow through the inductor.

主权项

1. A voltage regulator configured to receive a first voltage signal and provide a second voltage signal based, at least in part, on the first voltage signal, the voltage regulator comprising:
a receiving regulator comprising an inductor, wherein the receiving regulator is configured to receive the first voltage signal at a first terminal of the inductor and to provide an intermediate voltage signal at a second terminal of the inductor based, at least in part, on the first voltage signal; and a step-down regulator comprising a plurality of input terminals and an output terminal, wherein the step-down regulator is configured to receive, at one of the plurality of input terminals, the intermediate voltage signal from the second terminal of the inductor for a portion of a time period, and to provide the second voltage signal at the output terminal based on the received intermediate voltage signal.