A steady-state circuit and electronic device

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a steady-state circuit and an electronic device, relates to the field of autonomous driving, and particularly relates to the technical field of circuit design. The steady-state circuit comprises a plurality of power supply control circuits, a first end of each power supply control circuit is connected to an output end of a corresponding power supply in a plurality of power supplies, a second end is connected to a load circuit, and a third end is connected to a third end of another power supply control circuit. Each power supply control circuit comprises: a first detection circuit, a first input end of the first detection circuit is connected to the output end of the corresponding power supply, and a second input end of the first detection circuit is connected to the load circuit; a second detection circuit, a first input end of the second detection circuit is connected to an output end of the first detection circuit, and a second input end of the second detection circuit is connected to the third end of the other power supply control circuit; and a voltage regulation circuit, an output end of the second detection circuit is connected to the output end of the corresponding power supply through the voltage regulation circuit, and the voltage regulation circuit is configured to adjust the voltage of the output end of the corresponding power supply based on the voltage of the output end of the second detection circuit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of autonomous driving, and more particularly to the field of circuit design technology, specifically to a steady-state circuit and electronic device. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, power supply parallel solutions in electronic products mostly rely on the chip's native support for parallel operation. When it is not possible to select a power supply chip that natively supports parallel operation, a digital PID control system is often required. This system adjusts the PWM (duty cycle) or frequency to achieve current sharing among the parallel outputs, resulting in complex control methods and high costs. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This disclosure provides a steady-state circuit and an electronic device.

[0004] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a steady-state circuit is provided, comprising a plurality of power control circuits, wherein for each of the plurality of power control circuits: a first terminal of the power control circuit is connected to the output terminal of a corresponding power source among the plurality of power sources, a second terminal of the power control circuit is connected to a load circuit, and a third terminal of the power control circuit is connected to the third terminal of another power control circuit among the plurality of power control circuits, wherein the plurality of power sources correspond one-to-one with the plurality of power control circuits, and the plurality of power sources supply power to the load circuit through the plurality of power control circuits, and wherein each power control circuit comprises the following circuit modules: a first detection circuit, wherein a first input terminal of the first detection circuit is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power source, and a second input terminal of the first detection circuit is connected to the load circuit; a second detection circuit, wherein a first input terminal of the second detection circuit is connected to the output terminal of the first detection circuit, and a second input terminal of the second detection circuit is connected to the third terminal of another power control circuit among the plurality of power control circuits; and a voltage regulation circuit, wherein the output terminal of the second detection circuit is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power source through the voltage regulation circuit, and is configured to regulate the voltage of the output terminal of the corresponding power source based on the voltage of the output terminal of the second detection circuit.

[0005] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising: a steady-state circuit as described in any of the preceding claims, wherein a plurality of power supplies power the electronic device via a power-on / off circuit.

[0006] According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, the steady-state circuit can ensure that the power contribution of each power source to the load circuit remains the same or substantially the same, thereby achieving the purpose of steady-state operation and current sharing.

[0007] It should be understood that the description in this section is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0008] The accompanying drawings exemplify embodiments and form part of the specification, serving together with the textual description to explain exemplary implementations of the embodiments. The illustrated embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of the claims. Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to similar but not necessarily identical elements.

[0009] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a steady-state circuit with an exemplary embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0010] The exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, including various details of the embodiments to aid understanding, and should be considered merely exemplary. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Similarly, for clarity and brevity, descriptions of well-known functions and structures are omitted in the following description.

[0011] In this disclosure, unless otherwise stated, the use of terms such as "first," "second," etc., to describe various elements is not intended to limit the positional, temporal, or importance relationships of these elements; such terms are merely used to distinguish one element from another. In some examples, the first element and the second element may refer to the same instance of that element, while in other cases, based on the context, they may refer to different instances.

[0012] The terminology used in the description of the various examples described in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. Unless the context explicitly indicates otherwise, an element may be one or more unless the number of elements is specifically limited. Furthermore, the term "and / or" as used in this disclosure covers any one of the listed items and all possible combinations thereof.

[0013] The embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0014] With the increasing penetration rate of vehicle electrification and the continuous improvement and rapid development of autonomous driving technology, the ECU (Electronic Control Unit) plays an increasingly important role in vehicle control. As the functions of the ECU continue to expand, its hardware is also iterating, becoming more feature-rich, more complex in design, and requiring increasingly higher power. This necessitates higher-power automotive-grade power supply designs. This is especially true in the design of high-level autonomous driving hardware, where high-performance chips require high-power power supplies. Traditional automotive-grade power supplies often have insufficient power to meet the high-current application demands of autonomous driving scenarios.

[0015] Currently, most power supply parallel solutions rely on the chip's native support for parallel operation. However, there are limited options for automotive-grade power supply chips, especially those supporting 1000W output power. When a power supply chip with native parallel support cannot be selected, digital PID control is typically used to ensure that the output power of multiple parallel power supplies is roughly the same (i.e., current sharing). This involves adjusting the PWM duty cycle or frequency to achieve current sharing, making the control method complex and costly.

[0016] Therefore, a steady-state circuit is provided according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a steady-state circuit with an exemplary embodiment. (As shown...) Figure 1 As shown, the steady-state circuit includes multiple power control circuits (A, A'). For each of the multiple power control circuits: the first terminal of the power control circuit (e.g., power control circuit A) is connected to the output terminal (Power Rail A, Power Rail B) of the corresponding power source among the multiple power sources; the second terminal of the power control circuit is connected to the load circuit (LOAD); and the third terminal of the power control circuit is connected to the third terminal of the other power control circuits among the multiple power control circuits (e.g., power control circuit A'). The multiple power sources correspond one-to-one with the multiple power control circuits, and the multiple power sources supply power to the load circuit through the multiple power control circuits.

[0017] In embodiments according to this disclosure, each power control circuit includes the following circuit modules: a first detection circuit, wherein a first input terminal of the first detection circuit is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply, and a second input terminal of the first detection circuit is connected to the load circuit; a second detection circuit, wherein a first input terminal of the second detection circuit is connected to the output terminal of the first detection circuit, and a second input terminal of the second detection circuit is connected to a third terminal of another power control circuit in the plurality of power control circuits; and a voltage regulation circuit, wherein the output terminal of the second detection circuit is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply through the voltage regulation circuit, and is configured to regulate the voltage of the output terminal of the corresponding power supply based on the voltage of the output terminal of the second detection circuit.

[0018] like Figure 1 As shown, Power rail A and Power rail B are two independent power supply outputs. The steady-state circuit of this disclosure achieves both the parallel connection of Power rail A and Power rail B and the current sharing of their outputs. It is understood that... Figure 1 The diagram only shows the circuit structure with two power output terminals, Powerrail A and Powerrail B. However, there can be more than two power output terminals, which together provide power to the same load circuit and are connected to each other through the third terminal of the corresponding power control circuit.

[0019] In this disclosure, the output voltages of the multiple power supplies used to power the load circuit can be the same or substantially the same. Therefore, through this steady-state circuit, the power contribution of each power supply to the load circuit can be kept the same or substantially the same, thereby achieving steady-state operation and current sharing. Consequently, the device sizes (e.g., resistor values) of the symmetrical components between each power supply control circuit can be the same or substantially the same.

[0020] According to some embodiments, the first detection circuit includes: a first resistor, one end of which is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply, and the other end of which is connected to the load circuit; and a first comparator amplifier, the positive input terminal and the negative input terminal of which are connected to the two ends of the first resistor.

[0021] A comparator amplifier, also known as an operational amplifier, is a type of differential amplifier that features high input resistance, low output resistance, high open-loop gain, and the ability to amplify the voltage difference between the positive input pin (+) and the negative input pin (-).

[0022] like Figure 1As shown, for power control circuit A, the two ends of the first resistor Rsence_A are connected to the power output terminal Power Rail A and the load circuit, respectively. Furthermore, the two ends of the first resistor Rsence_A are also connected to the positive and negative input terminals of the first amplifier AMP_A. Power control circuit A' is similarly configured and will not be described further here. The first detection circuit is used to detect the current change from the corresponding power input to the load circuit and convert the current signal into a voltage signal.

[0023] According to some embodiments, the second detection circuit includes: a second comparator amplifier, the positive input terminal of which is connected to the output terminal of the first detection circuit, the negative input terminal of which is connected to the third terminal of another power control circuit in the plurality of power control circuits, and the output terminal of which is connected to the voltage regulation circuit. The second detection circuit can detect voltage changes at the output terminal of the first detection circuit and at the third terminals of other power control circuits.

[0024] According to some embodiments, each power control circuit further includes a second resistor (e.g., resistor R12 in power control circuit A). The second resistor is connected to the output terminal of the first detection circuit and the third terminal of the other power control circuits in the plurality of power control circuits. Thus, the second detection circuit detects the voltage change across the second resistor, and then adjusts the voltage at the output terminal of the corresponding power supply through the voltage adjustment circuit.

[0025] According to some embodiments, each power control circuit further includes: a first voltage divider circuit and a second voltage divider circuit. The first voltage divider circuit is connected to the output terminal of the first detection circuit and the positive input terminal of the second comparator amplifier; and the second voltage divider circuit is connected to the negative input terminal of the second comparator amplifier and a third terminal of another power control circuit in the plurality of power control circuits.

[0026] According to some embodiments, the first voltage divider circuit includes a first voltage divider resistor and a second voltage divider resistor. The output terminal of the first detection circuit is connected to the positive input terminal of the second comparator amplifier through the first voltage divider resistor, one end of the second voltage divider resistor is connected to the positive input terminal of the second comparator amplifier, and the other end of the second voltage divider resistor is connected to an external power supply.

[0027] Continue to refer to Figure 1For power control circuit A, the first voltage divider circuit includes a first voltage divider resistor R11 and a second voltage divider resistor R10. One end of the first voltage divider resistor R11 is connected to the output terminal of the first comparator amplifier AMP_A in the first detection circuit, and the other end is connected to the positive input terminal of the second comparator amplifier OP_A. One end of the second voltage divider resistor R10 is connected to the positive input terminal of the second comparator amplifier OP_A and the first voltage divider resistor R11, and the other end is connected to an external power supply Vref. The voltage value of the external power supply Vref can be a fixed value according to the actual design, such as 2V, and is not limited here.

[0028] According to some embodiments, the second voltage divider circuit includes a third voltage divider resistor and a fourth voltage divider resistor. The negative input terminal of the second comparator amplifier is connected to the third terminal of another power control circuit in the plurality of power control circuits through the third voltage divider resistor. One end of the fourth voltage divider resistor is connected to the negative input terminal of the second comparator amplifier, and the other end of the fourth voltage divider resistor is connected to the output terminal of the second comparator amplifier.

[0029] Continue to refer to Figure 1 For power control circuit A, the second voltage divider circuit includes a third voltage divider resistor R13 and a fourth voltage divider resistor R14. One end of the third voltage divider resistor R13 is connected to the third terminal of other power control circuits (e.g., power control circuit A'), and the other end is connected to the negative input terminal of the second comparator amplifier OP_A. One end of the fourth voltage divider resistor R14 is connected to the negative input terminal of the second comparator amplifier OP_A and the third voltage divider resistor R13, and the other end is connected to the output terminal of the second comparator amplifier OP_A.

[0030] According to some embodiments, the voltage regulation circuit includes a fifth voltage divider resistor, a sixth voltage divider resistor, a seventh voltage divider resistor, and a voltage regulator circuit. One end of the fifth voltage divider resistor is connected to the output terminal of the second comparator amplifier, and the other end is connected to one end of the sixth voltage divider resistor; the end of the sixth voltage divider resistor not connected to the fifth voltage divider resistor is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply; one end of the seventh voltage divider resistor is connected to the end of the sixth voltage divider resistor connected to the fifth voltage divider resistor, and the other end is grounded; the voltage regulator circuit is configured to maintain a constant voltage at the end of the sixth voltage divider resistor connected to the fifth voltage divider resistor.

[0031] Continue to refer to Figure 1For the power supply control circuit A, the voltage regulation circuit includes a fifth voltage divider resistor RA, a sixth voltage divider resistor R1, a seventh voltage divider resistor R2, and a voltage regulator circuit (not shown). The voltage regulator circuit is configured to maintain a constant voltage Vfb1 at the midpoint between the sixth and seventh voltage divider resistors R1 and R2. When the voltage at the output of the second comparator amplifier OP_A increases or decreases, because the voltage Vfb1 is constant, the current flowing through the fifth voltage divider resistor RA decreases or increases, and correspondingly, the current through the sixth voltage divider resistor R1 decreases or increases, thereby regulating the output voltage at the power supply output.

[0032] It is understandable that those skilled in the art can easily implement voltage regulator circuits, so they will not be described in detail here.

[0033] According to some embodiments, the second comparator amplifier includes a rail-to-rail comparator amplifier. Compared to other comparator amplifiers, the rail-to-rail comparator amplifier has an ultra-high amplification factor, enabling sensitive detection of voltage changes on corresponding sides of different power supply outputs.

[0034] Specifically, in one exemplary embodiment according to this disclosure, reference continues to be made to... Figure 1 The circuit structure shown specifies the sizes of the symmetrical components in power control circuits A and A'. For example, the second voltage divider resistors R10 = R20 = 200kΩ, the first voltage divider resistors R11 = R21 = 100kΩ, the second resistors R12 = R22 = 1kΩ, the third voltage divider resistors R13 = R23 = 100kΩ, and the fourth voltage divider resistors R14 = R24 = 200kΩ; the first resistor Rsense A = Rsense B = 1mΩ. The resistance values ​​of the second resistors R12 and R22 can be much smaller than the resistance values ​​of R10, R20, R11, R21, R12, R22, R13, R23, R14, and R24. For example, Vfb1 = Vfb2 = 1V, Vref = 2V, R1 = R3 = 137kΩ, R2 = R4 = 10kΩ, and RA = RB = 50kΩ. The output voltage V1 (i.e., Vout) can be determined according to the following formula:

[0035] V1=(R1+R2) / R2*Vfb1-(VA-Vfb1)*R1 / RA Formula 1

[0036] For example, when the current at power rail A and power rail B is equal and close to zero, VR10≈VR11=VR21≈VR20=0V, and,

[0037] VA=VB=(R14+R13) / R13*V-=(R10+R11) / R11*V+=Vref=2V

[0038] According to Formula 1, the output voltages of power rail A and power rail B can be obtained as follows: V1 = V2 = Vout = 11.96V.

[0039] When the current at the power rail B output terminal increases, the output voltage VR20 of the first detection circuit in the power control circuit A' increases, for example, VR20 becomes 20mV. At this time, VR11=VR21≈VR20=20mV, while the output voltage VR10 of the first detection circuit in the power control circuit A remains at 0V. Then the output voltage of the second detection circuit in the power control circuit A becomes: VA'=V++(V+-VR20)*R14 / R13=1.97V.

[0040] After passing through the voltage regulation circuit, the first voltage Rsense A (the voltage on the left side of Power rail A, i.e., the low output voltage of Power rail A) in power control circuit A is (R1+R2) / R2*Vfb1-(VA'-Vfb1)*R1 / RA = 12.04V. It can be seen that the increased current at Power rail B causes an increase in the VR20 voltage, resulting in an 80mV increase in the output voltage V1' of Power rail A compared to the original output voltage V1. Because the output voltage of Power rail A increases, under the same load, the current at Power rail A will also increase, thus achieving a decrease in the current at Power rail B, ultimately making the currents at Power rail A and Power rail B the same.

[0041] It is understood that the values ​​in this embodiment are merely exemplary and are not intended to be limiting.

[0042] According to some embodiments, the system further includes: multiple buck circuits. Each of the multiple power control circuits is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply through a corresponding buck circuit in the multiple buck circuits. The buck power supply can reduce the voltage at the power supply output terminal to a suitable voltage range adapted to the load circuit, for example, from 12V to 5V.

[0043] According to some embodiments, each of the plurality of buck circuits includes an inductor and a diode. One end of the inductor is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply, and the other end is connected to the corresponding power control circuit; the end of the inductor connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply is also connected to the negative terminal of the diode, and the positive terminal of the diode is grounded.

[0044] According to some embodiments, for each of the plurality of buck circuits, the buck circuit further includes a first capacitor and a second capacitor (e.g., Figure 1 (Capacitors C11 and C12 in the circuit). One end of the first capacitor is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply, and the other end is grounded; one end of the second capacitor is connected to the end of the inductor that is connected to the corresponding power supply control circuit, and the other end is grounded.

[0045] The first and second capacitors can be used to filter the voltage before and after the step-down circuit, thereby achieving voltage stabilization.

[0046] The circuit structure described in this disclosure is simple in design and can achieve the purpose of parallel connection of various topologies using fewer materials; it can significantly reduce the difficulty of design selection and shorten the research and development cycle.

[0047] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is also provided, comprising: a steady-state circuit as described in any of the above embodiments, wherein multiple power sources supply power to the electronic device through the steady-state circuit. This allows each power source to contribute the same or substantially the same power to the load circuit, thereby achieving steady-state operation and current sharing.

[0048] In this disclosure, "electronic device" can be any type of terminal device, such as, but not limited to, mobile terminals such as mobile phones, laptops, digital radio receivers, PDAs (personal digital assistants), PADs (tablet computers), PMPs (portable multimedia players), in-vehicle terminals (e.g., in-vehicle navigation terminals, in-vehicle ECUs (electronic control units)), and fixed terminals such as digital TVs, desktop computers, etc.

[0049] While embodiments or examples of this disclosure have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above structures are merely exemplary embodiments or examples, and the scope of this utility model is not limited by these embodiments or examples, but only by the granted claims and their equivalents. Various elements in the embodiments or examples may be omitted or replaced by their equivalents. Furthermore, the circuit may be implemented using devices different from those described in this disclosure. Further, various elements in the embodiments or examples may be combined in various ways. Importantly, as the technology evolves, many elements described herein can be replaced by equivalents that appear after this disclosure.

Claims

1. A steady-state circuit, comprising multiple power supply control circuits, wherein, For each of the plurality of power control circuits: the first terminal of the power control circuit is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply among the plurality of power supplies; the second terminal of the power control circuit is connected to the load circuit; and the third terminal of the power control circuit is connected to the third terminal of the other power control circuits among the plurality of power control circuits. The plurality of power supplies correspond one-to-one with the plurality of power control circuits, and the plurality of power supplies supply power to the load circuit through the plurality of power control circuits. Each power control circuit includes the following circuit modules: A first detection circuit, wherein the first input terminal of the first detection circuit is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply, and the second input terminal of the first detection circuit is connected to the load circuit. A second detection circuit, wherein the first input terminal of the second detection circuit is connected to the output terminal of the first detection circuit, and the second input terminal of the second detection circuit is connected to the third terminal of another power control circuit in the plurality of power control circuits; and A voltage regulation circuit is provided, wherein the output terminal of the second detection circuit is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply through the voltage regulation circuit, and is configured to regulate the voltage of the output terminal of the corresponding power supply based on the output voltage of the second detection circuit.

2. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 1, wherein, The first detection circuit includes: A first resistor, one end of which is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply, and the other end of which is connected to the load circuit; A first comparator amplifier, wherein the positive and negative input terminals of the first comparator amplifier are connected to the two ends of the first resistor.

3. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 1, wherein, The second detection circuit includes: a second comparator amplifier, wherein, The positive input terminal of the second comparator amplifier is connected to the output terminal of the first detection circuit, the negative input terminal of the second comparator amplifier is connected to the third terminal of another power control circuit in the plurality of power control circuits, and the output terminal of the second comparator amplifier is connected to the voltage regulation circuit.

4. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 3, wherein each power supply control circuit further comprises: The first voltage divider circuit and the second voltage divider circuit, wherein... The first voltage divider circuit is connected to the output terminal of the first detection circuit and the positive input terminal of the second comparator amplifier; and The second voltage divider circuit is connected to the negative input terminal of the second comparator amplifier and the third terminal of the other power control circuits in the plurality of power control circuits.

5. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 4, wherein each power supply control circuit further comprises: The second resistor, wherein, The second resistor is connected to the output terminal of the first detection circuit and the third terminal of the other power control circuits in the plurality of power control circuits.

6. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 4, wherein, The first voltage divider circuit includes a first voltage divider resistor and a second voltage divider resistor, wherein, The output of the first detection circuit is connected to the positive input of the second comparator amplifier through the first voltage divider resistor. One end of the second voltage divider resistor is connected to the positive input of the second comparator amplifier, and the other end of the second voltage divider resistor is connected to an external power supply.

7. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 4, wherein, The second voltage divider circuit includes a third voltage divider resistor and a fourth voltage divider resistor, wherein, The negative input terminal of the second comparator amplifier is connected to the third terminal of other power control circuits in the plurality of power control circuits through the third voltage divider resistor. One end of the fourth voltage divider resistor is connected to the negative input terminal of the second comparator amplifier, and the other end of the fourth voltage divider resistor is connected to the output terminal of the second comparator amplifier.

8. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 3, wherein, The voltage regulation circuit includes a fifth voltage divider resistor, a sixth voltage divider resistor, a seventh voltage divider resistor, and a voltage regulator circuit, wherein... One end of the fifth voltage divider resistor is connected to the output terminal of the second comparator amplifier, and the other end is connected to one end of the sixth voltage divider resistor; The end of the sixth voltage divider resistor that is not connected to the fifth voltage divider resistor is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply. One end of the seventh voltage divider resistor is connected to the end of the sixth voltage divider resistor that is connected to the fifth voltage divider resistor, and the other end is grounded. The voltage regulator circuit is configured to maintain a constant voltage at the end of the sixth voltage divider resistor that is connected to the fifth voltage divider resistor.

9. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 3, wherein, The second comparator amplifier includes a rail-to-rail comparator amplifier.

10. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 1, further comprising: Multiple step-down circuits, among which, Each of the plurality of power control circuits is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply through a corresponding step-down circuit in the plurality of step-down circuits.

11. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 10, wherein, For each of the plurality of buck circuits, the buck circuit includes an inductor and a diode, wherein, One end of the inductor is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply, and the other end is connected to the corresponding power control circuit. One end of the inductor connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply is also connected to the negative terminal of the diode, and the positive terminal of the diode is grounded.

12. The steady-state circuit as described in claim 11, wherein, For each of the plurality of buck circuits, the buck circuit further includes a first capacitor and a second capacitor, wherein, One end of the first capacitor is connected to the output terminal of the corresponding power supply, and the other end is grounded; One end of the second capacitor is connected to one end of the inductor that is connected to the corresponding power control circuit, and the other end is grounded.

13. An electronic device, comprising: The steady-state circuit as described in any one of claims 1-12, wherein multiple power sources supply power to the electronic device through the steady-state circuit.

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