Voltage conversion system and control method thereof

Abstract

This disclosure provides a voltage conversion system and its control method. The voltage conversion system includes a multiphase voltage converter and a controller. The multiphase voltage converter is coupled to a load and includes multiple phase circuits, wherein at least one of the multiple phase circuits is active to enable the multiphase voltage converter to supply load current to the load. The controller is coupled to the multiphase voltage converter and is configured to enable at least one of the multiple phase circuits to be active based on the load current and the operating sequence of the multiple phase circuits, and to adjust the operating sequence in response to the activation number of the multiple phase circuits becoming 1, so as to adjust the first of the multiple phase circuits from the second priority operating item to the highest priority operating item.

Claims

1. A voltage conversion system comprising: a multiphase voltage converter coupled to a load and including a plurality of phase circuits, wherein the phase circuits are coupled to the load and at least one of the phase circuits is in an active state to enable the multiphase voltage converter to provide a load current to the load; and a controller coupled to the multiphase voltage converter for enabling at least one of the phase circuits to be in the active state according to the load current and an operating item sequence of the phase circuits, and for adjusting the operating item sequence in response to a change in the number of operating items of the phase circuits to 1 to adjust a first of the phase circuits from a second priority operating item to a highest priority operating item.

2. The voltage conversion system as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the first of the phase circuits is changed from the second priority operation to the highest priority operation, a second of the phase circuits is changed from the highest priority operation to a last priority operation.

3. The voltage conversion system as claimed in claim 2, wherein when the enable number of the phase circuits becomes 1, the second of the phase circuits is in the active state, while the others of the phase circuits have a high impedance state.

4. The voltage conversion system as claimed in claim 2, wherein when the number of enabled phase circuits changes from 1 to 2, the first and second phase circuits are in the active state, while the remaining phase circuits have a high impedance state.

5. The voltage conversion system as claimed in claim 2, wherein when the first of the phase circuits is the highest priority operating item, the controller is configured to, in response to the enable quantity of the phase circuits changing from 1 to a quantity greater than 1, switch at least the first of the phase circuits from a high impedance state to the active state, starting with the first of the phase circuits, according to the operating item sequence.

6. The voltage conversion system as claimed in claim 5, wherein when the first of the phase circuits is the highest priority operation, the controller is configured to adjust the operation sequence in response to the enable number of the phase circuits becoming 1, so as to adjust a third of the phase circuits from the second priority operation to the highest priority operation.

7. The voltage conversion system as claimed in claim 6, wherein when the third in the phase circuits is changed from the second priority operation to the highest priority operation, the first in the phase circuits is changed from the highest priority operation to the last priority operation.

8. The voltage conversion system as claimed in claim 7, wherein when the third party in the phase circuits is the highest priority operation item, the controller is configured to, in response to the enable number of the phase circuits changing from 1 to a number greater than 1, switch at least the third party in the phase circuits from the high impedance state to the active state, starting with the third party in the phase circuits, according to the operation item sequence.

9. The voltage conversion system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the multiphase voltage converter further comprises: a plurality of drive circuits coupled to the phase circuits and the controller, and for driving the phase circuits according to a plurality of drive signals output by the controller; wherein the controller comprises: a feedback signal circuit for outputting a control signal according to the load current, wherein the control signal indicates the enable quantity of the phase circuits; a phase management circuit coupled to the feedback signal circuit for outputting a plurality of enable signals according to the control signal, and for adjusting the operating sequence of the phase circuits in response to the enable quantity of the phase circuits becoming 1; and a pulse width modulation circuit coupled to the phase management circuit and the multiphase voltage converter, and for outputting the drive signals to the multiphase voltage converter according to the enable signals.

10. A control method applicable to a voltage conversion system including a multiphase voltage converter, wherein the multiphase voltage converter includes a plurality of phase circuits for coupling to a load, at least one of the phase circuits being in an active state to enable the multiphase voltage converter to provide a load current to the load, and the control method comprising: enabling at least one of the phase circuits to be in the active state by means of a controller of the voltage conversion system according to the load current and an operating item sequence of the phase circuits; and adjusting the operating item sequence by means of the controller in response to a uniform energy quantity of the phase circuits becoming 1, so as to adjust a first one of the phase circuits from a second priority operating item to a highest priority operating item.

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