Power management circuit and chip thereof, power supply module, electronic equipment and voltage regulation method

Abstract

The invention relates to a power management circuit and a chip thereof, a power supply module, an electronic device and a voltage regulation method, electricity is directly taken from a battery module through a first conversion module and a second conversion module, and primary voltage conversion processing is carried out, so that extra power consumption generated when a charge pump is converted into single cell voltage can be reduced, the overall conversion efficiency is improved, and the power consumption is reduced. The power supply efficiency of the power management circuit is greatly improved; the overall loss is reduced; moreover, the power management circuit can provide two kinds of driving voltages for the same load circuit at the same time, so that the load circuit does not need to carry out multi-stage conversion processing again and does not need to introduce additional input voltage, additional loss is reduced as well, and the loss of the whole machine is further reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of power supply technology, and in particular to a power management circuit and chip thereof, a power supply module, an electronic device and a voltage regulation method. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of electronic devices, the functional modules in electronic devices are becoming more and more abundant, such as system on chip (SOC), camera module, screen, etc. Moreover, different functional modules require different power supply voltages, and even the same functional module may need to be driven by multiple power supply voltages to work properly.

[0003] However, most power supply architectures are designed for single-cell systems. When implementing signal outputs of multiple voltages, it is difficult to achieve compatible voltage conversion efficiency, resulting in higher overall losses in electronic equipment. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a power management circuit and its chip, a power supply module, an electronic device and a voltage regulation method, which can improve the voltage conversion efficiency when outputting multiple voltage signals.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a power management circuit, comprising:

[0006] A first conversion module, used for receiving a first voltage provided by a battery module and converting the first voltage into a second voltage; the battery module includes a plurality of battery cells connected in series;

[0007] a second conversion module, configured to access the first voltage output by the battery module and obtain a third voltage after performing voltage conversion on the first voltage;

[0008] The first conversion module and the second conversion module support being connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit respectively, so that the load circuit operates under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage.

[0009] In a second aspect, the present application provides a power management chip, comprising the power management circuit as described above.

[0010] In a third aspect, the present application provides a power supply module, including:

[0011] A battery module, configured to provide a first voltage, wherein the battery module comprises a plurality of battery cells connected in series; and

[0012] The power management circuit as described above or the power management chip as described above.

[0013] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides an electronic device, including:

[0014] The power management circuit as described above, or the power management chip as described above, or the power supply module as described above; and

[0015] A load circuit, wherein different voltage input terminals of the load circuit are respectively connected to the second voltage and the third voltage, and the load circuit is used to work under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage.

[0016] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a voltage regulation method, which is applied to an electronic device, wherein the electronic device includes a battery module, and the battery module includes a plurality of battery cells connected in series; the voltage regulation method includes:

[0017] driving the first conversion module to perform voltage conversion on the first voltage output by the battery module to provide a second voltage for power supply;

[0018] driving the second conversion module to perform voltage conversion on the first voltage to provide a third voltage for power supply;

[0019] The first conversion module and the second conversion module can be respectively connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage.

[0020] The above-mentioned power management circuit and its chip, power supply module, electronic device and voltage regulation method can directly perform a first-level voltage conversion process on the first voltage provided by the battery module of the multi-cell in series through the first conversion module and the second conversion module to obtain the second voltage and the third voltage respectively, and the second voltage and the third voltage can be provided to the same load circuit at the same time, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage. On the one hand, the power management circuit directly draws power from the battery module and performs a first-level voltage conversion process, which can reduce the additional power consumption generated when the charge pump is converted to a single-cell voltage, improve the overall conversion efficiency, greatly improve the power supply efficiency of the power management circuit, and reduce the loss of the whole machine; on the other hand, the power management circuit can provide two driving voltages for the same load circuit at the same time, so that the load circuit does not need to perform multi-level conversion again, and does not need to introduce additional input voltage, which also reduces additional losses and further reduces the loss of the whole machine. In addition, at least one of the first conversion module and the second conversion module in the embodiment of the present application can choose to perform one of the boost processing and the buck processing according to the output voltage requirement. By flexibly selecting the processing method of the at least one module, there is no need to set up an excessive number of conversion modules in the power management circuit to meet the output requirements of multiple voltages, thereby providing a power management circuit with a relatively small circuit volume. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0022] Figure 1 One of the structural block diagrams of a power management circuit according to an embodiment;

[0023] Figure 2 This is a second structural block diagram of a power management circuit according to an embodiment;

[0024] Figure 3 It is a partial circuit diagram of a display driving circuit in the related art;

[0025] Figure 4 The third structural block diagram of a power management circuit of an embodiment;

[0026] Figure 5 is a circuit diagram of a buck / boost circuit according to an embodiment;

[0027] Figure 6 is a circuit diagram of a boost circuit according to an embodiment;

[0028] Figure 7 A structural block diagram of a power management chip according to an embodiment;

[0029] Figure 8 This is one of the circuit diagrams of a power supply module according to an embodiment;

[0030] Fig. 9 This is a second circuit diagram of a power supply module according to an embodiment;

[0031] Fig.10 is a flow chart of a voltage regulation method according to an embodiment;

[0032] Fig.11 It is a structural block diagram of a communication device in one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.

[0034] It is understood that the terms "first", "second", etc. used in this application can be used in this article to describe various elements, but these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the first element from another element, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, the features defined as "first" and "second" can explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0035] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "disposed on" another element, it may be directly on the other element or there may be an intermediate element. When an element is considered to be "connected to" another element, it may be directly connected to the other element or there may be an intermediate element at the same time.

[0036] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a power management circuit 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 In this embodiment, the power management circuit 10 includes a first conversion module 110 and a second conversion module 120 .

[0037] The first conversion module 110 is used to connect to the first voltage V1 provided by the battery module 20, and obtain the second voltage V2 after voltage conversion of the first voltage V1; the second conversion module 120 is used to connect to the first voltage V1 output by the battery module 20, and obtain the third voltage V3 after voltage conversion of the first voltage V1; wherein the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 can be respectively connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage V2 and the third voltage V3.

[0038] The battery module 20 includes a plurality of battery cells connected in series, for example, two battery cells connected in series. The battery module 20 is used to provide a first voltage V1. It can be understood that the first voltage V1 is a DC voltage, and the DC voltage is related to the amount of electricity stored in the battery module 20. For example, the more electricity the battery module 20 stores, the greater the first voltage V1; the less electricity the battery module 20 stores, the smaller the first voltage V1.

[0039] Among them, the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 are respectively used to connect to the battery module 20 to access the first voltage V1. The first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 can respectively perform voltage conversion on the first voltage V1 to obtain a target power supply voltage suitable for the load circuit, thereby supporting the stable and reliable operation of the load circuit. Specifically, the first conversion module 110 is used to convert the first voltage V1 to obtain the second voltage V2, and the second conversion module 120 is used to convert the first voltage V1 to obtain the third voltage V3. The aforementioned voltage conversion may include any one of a boost process and a buck process. Thus, the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 can respectively perform a boost process or a buck process on the first voltage V1 based on the target voltage required by the load circuit. It can be understood that the second voltage V2 and the third voltage V3 can be converted to be the same or different based on the power supply requirements of the load circuit, and this embodiment does not further limit this.

[0040] The first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 can be connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit respectively, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage V2 and the third voltage V3. Therefore, by flexibly selecting the processing methods of the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120, the power supply of multiple different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit can be realized based on the primary voltage conversion of each conversion module of the power management circuit 10, so as to meet the various power supply requirements of the same load circuit.

[0041] In the related art, in order to be compatible with the power supply architecture of a single cell, even if a battery module with multiple cells in series is used, the first voltage V1 output by the battery module 20 will be first stepped down to the single cell voltage, and then the single cell voltage will be stepped up to the first target power supply voltage by the boost circuit. Therefore, the first target power supply voltage usually needs to be converted by a charge pump module and a boost circuit at two stages, and the conversion efficiency is low, thereby increasing the loss of the whole machine. Further, for some load circuits that need to be driven by multiple power supply voltages to work normally, on the basis of the first power supply voltage generated by the aforementioned power supply architecture, the load circuit also needs to be based on the first power supply voltage and the additional input voltage to perform multi-stage conversion processing before obtaining another target power supply voltage, so as to work under the action of the certain target power supply voltage and another target power supply voltage. On the one hand, the aforementioned multi-stage conversion processing reduces the conversion efficiency. On the other hand, the additional input voltage may also need to be obtained by stepping down the voltage output by the battery module 20 to a certain target value through the step-down circuit, and the conversion efficiency is also low, which further reduces the overall conversion efficiency and further increases the loss of the whole machine.

[0042] In this embodiment, the first voltage V1 provided by the battery module 20 with multiple cells in series can be directly subjected to a first-level voltage conversion process by the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 to obtain a second voltage V2 and a third voltage V3 respectively, and the second voltage V2 and the third voltage V3 can be simultaneously provided to the same load circuit, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage V2 and the third voltage V3. On the one hand, the power management circuit 10 directly draws power from the battery module 20 and performs a first-level voltage conversion process, which can reduce the additional power consumption generated when the charge pump is converted to a single cell voltage, improve the overall conversion efficiency, greatly improve the power supply efficiency of the power management circuit 10, and reduce the loss of the whole machine; on the other hand, the power management circuit 10 can simultaneously provide two driving voltages for the same load circuit, so that the load circuit does not need to perform multi-level conversion again, and does not need to introduce additional input voltage, which also reduces additional losses and further reduces the loss of the whole machine. In addition, at least one of the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 of the embodiment of the present application can choose to perform one of the boost processing and the buck processing according to the output voltage requirement. By flexibly selecting the processing method of the at least one module, there is no need to set up an excessive number of conversion modules in the power management circuit to meet the output requirements of multiple voltages, thereby providing a power management circuit with a relatively small circuit volume.

[0043] It can be understood that this embodiment provides an example in which the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 support being connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit respectively, so as to provide the second voltage V2 and the third voltage V3 to the load circuit at the same time. However, in other embodiments, the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 can also support providing corresponding voltages to different load circuits simultaneously or in a time-sharing manner. Therefore, according to the demand for output voltage, at least one of the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 can be flexibly enabled to output the corresponding voltage, thereby reducing the loss of unnecessary conversion modules during operation.

[0044] In one embodiment, the load circuit may be a display driver circuit, which may be used to drive any display screen such as an OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display screen, a QLED (Quantum dot Light Emitting Diode) display screen, a micro-LCD display screen, etc. Taking an OLED display screen as an example, its corresponding display driver circuit may also be referred to as an OLED driver IC. The display driver circuit needs to continuously receive multiple voltages such as an AVDD voltage and a VGH voltage. The AVDD voltage is used to provide a GOA (Gate on Array, gate driver integration on an array substrate) voltage and a GAMMA voltage. The AVDD voltage ranges from approximately 5.6V to 8V; the VGH voltage is used to provide a gate drive voltage. The VGH voltage ranges from approximately 7V to 9V.

[0045] In this embodiment, if Figure 2 As shown ( Figure 2 Taking two battery cells connected in series as an example, the load circuit is configured with a source drive voltage input terminal and a gate drive voltage input terminal, wherein the first conversion module 110 is used to connect to the source drive voltage input terminal to provide the target source drive voltage (i.e., AVDD voltage) to the load circuit; the second conversion module 120 is used to connect to the gate drive voltage input terminal to provide the target gate drive voltage (i.e., VGH voltage) to the load circuit. Therefore, based on the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 of this embodiment, it can be effectively adapted to the multi-voltage usage scenario in which the load circuit continuously receives the AVDD voltage and the VGH voltage, so that the load circuit drives the working state of the display screen under the power supply of the AVDD voltage and the VGH voltage.

[0046] In related technologies, such as Figure 3 As shown ( Figure 3 Only part of the circuit of the display driving circuit is shown. On the one hand, the existing display driving circuit is connected to the AVDD voltage (for example, 7.9V) that has been processed by two-stage conversion (first step-down and then step-up). The two-stage conversion process makes the conversion efficiency low; on the other hand, an additional VCI voltage needs to be connected. The battery voltage VCI is boosted by the switch capacitor circuit (composed of switch K1, switch K2, switch K3, switch K4, capacitor C1 and capacitor C2 in the figure) to obtain the AVDD+VCI voltage (for example, 10.9V), and then the VGH voltage (for example, 9V) is obtained through the voltage regulator LDO. Since the AVDD+VCI voltage is 10.9V, it is reduced to 9V, resulting in a low overall efficiency of the VGH voltage path, and the additionally connected VCI voltage usually needs to be obtained by taking power from the battery module 20 and then stepping down the voltage through the charge pump, so the overall efficiency of the VGH voltage path is only about 80%.

[0047] In the present embodiment, for the AVDD voltage, the first conversion module 110 directly draws power from the battery module 20, and converts the multi-cell voltage into the second voltage V2 (for example, converted to 7.9V) to obtain the AVDD voltage. The voltage transformation ratio in most operating conditions is 0.8-1.2. Compared with the conversion of the single-cell voltage into the second voltage V2 in the related art, the efficiency can be improved by about 2%, and the process of converting the multi-cell voltage into the single-cell voltage is omitted. For the VGH voltage, the second conversion module 120 directly draws power from the battery module 20, and converts the multi-cell voltage into the third voltage V3 (for example, converted to 9V), and the conversion efficiency can reach 90%. Compared with the method in the related art where the VCI voltage is first boosted and then stepped down by the AVDD+VCI voltage, the conversion efficiency is improved by about 10%. Furthermore, compared to the related art, all power consumption is taken from the single-cell voltage, that is, it needs to be stepped down by the charge pump module (for example, the dual-cell voltage is stepped down to the single-cell voltage, and the charge pump module is processed by 2:1 conversion), which will generate about 1% additional power consumption; further, the AVDD voltage and VGH voltage in this embodiment are directly powered by the battery module 20, which can reduce the additional 1% power consumption generated by the charge pump step-down process. Therefore, combined with the reduction in power consumption of the aforementioned parts, the power consumption of this embodiment can be greatly reduced as a whole, thereby improving the battery life of the whole machine. In addition, the VGH voltage is provided by the power management circuit, and the conversion circuit required for the load circuit in the related art to obtain the VGH voltage can also be omitted, thereby reducing the volume and power consumption of the load circuit.

[0048] In one embodiment, the first conversion module 110 is configured to boost the first voltage V1 to generate the second voltage V2 when the first voltage V1 is lower than the first target voltage; and to step down the first voltage V1 to generate the second voltage V2 when the first voltage V1 is higher than the first target voltage.

[0049] Among them, the first voltage V1 is associated with the power of the battery module 20, so that the first voltage V1 changes within a certain range following the change of the power of the battery module 20. The first target voltage can be understood as the power supply voltage required by the voltage input terminal of the load circuit connected to the first conversion module 110 at a certain moment. When the power supply requirements of the load circuit are the same at different moments, the first target voltage is a fixed voltage; when the power supply requirements of the load circuit are different at different moments, the first target voltage can be a variable voltage. Therefore, based on the variability of the first voltage V1 and / or the first target voltage, the first target voltage may be greater than the first voltage V1 in some cases and less than the first voltage V1 in some cases, that is, the magnitude relationship between the first target voltage and the first voltage V1 changes; or it may be greater than the first voltage V1, that is, the magnitude relationship between the first target voltage and the first voltage V1 does not change.

[0050] Further, in the case where the magnitude relationship between the first target voltage and the first voltage V1 changes, the first conversion module 110 can perform a step-up or step-down process according to the change in the magnitude relationship to obtain a wide range of the second voltage V2: when the first target voltage is greater than the first voltage V1, the first conversion module 110 needs to step up the first voltage V1 to obtain a second voltage V2 (i.e., the first target voltage) greater than the first voltage V1; when the first target voltage is less than the first voltage V1, the first conversion module 110 needs to step down the first voltage V1 to obtain a second voltage V2 less than the first voltage V1. Taking the first voltage V1 as an example of a battery module 20 with two batteries in series, and the second voltage V2 being used as an AVDD voltage, the range of the first voltage V1 is about 6.8V to 9V, and the AVDD voltage is a variable voltage, and its range is about 5.6V to 8V. Therefore, the first conversion module 110 needs to adjust the type of voltage processing in real time according to the situation during operation to make the second voltage V2 accurately approach the first target voltage.

[0051] Furthermore, when there is no change in the magnitude relationship between the first target voltage and the first voltage V1, that is, when the first target voltage is continuously greater than the first voltage V1, the first conversion module 110 may also only have a boost processing function, and boost the first voltage V1 according to the first target voltage to obtain a second voltage V2 greater than the first voltage V1.

[0052] Optionally, the above selection of the first conversion module 110 may be controlled by the controller, that is, the controller may determine whether the first conversion module 110 needs to perform a voltage step-up process or a voltage step-down process, and output a corresponding signal to the first conversion module 110 according to the determination result, so that the first conversion module 110 performs the corresponding process. The above selection may also be performed spontaneously by the first conversion module 110, and the first conversion module 110 is provided with a comparator and other components, which may compare the first voltage V1 with the first target voltage, and control the back-end circuit in the first conversion module 110 to perform the corresponding process according to the comparison result. By flexibly selecting the processing mode of the first conversion module 110, it is not necessary to set too many conversion modules in the power management circuit 10 to meet the requirements of various voltage power supply of the load circuit.

[0053] In one embodiment, the second conversion module 120 is configured to boost the first voltage V1 to generate a third voltage V3 when the first voltage V1 is lower than the second target voltage; and / or, the second conversion module is configured to step down the first voltage to generate the third voltage when the first voltage V1 is higher than the second target voltage.

[0054] Among them, the first voltage V1 is associated with the power of the battery module 20, so the first voltage V1 changes within a certain range following the change of the power of the battery module 20. The second target voltage can be understood as the power supply voltage required by the voltage input terminal of the load circuit connected to the second conversion module 120 at a certain moment. When the power supply requirements of the load circuit are the same at different moments, the second target voltage is a fixed voltage; when the power supply requirements of the load circuit are different at different moments, the second target voltage can be a variable voltage. Therefore, based on the variability of the first voltage V1 and / or the second target voltage, the second target voltage may be greater than the first voltage V1 in some cases and less than the first voltage V1 in some cases, or may be greater than the first voltage V1.

[0055] Further, in the case where the magnitude relationship between the second target voltage and the first voltage V1 changes, the second conversion module 120 can perform a step-up or step-down process according to the change in the magnitude relationship to obtain a third voltage V3 with a wide range: when the second target voltage is greater than the first voltage V1, the second conversion module 120 needs to perform a step-up process on the first voltage V1 to obtain a third voltage V3 (i.e., the second target voltage) greater than the first voltage V1; when the second target voltage is less than the first voltage V1, the second conversion module 120 needs to perform a step-down process on the first voltage V1 to obtain a third voltage V3 less than the first voltage V1. Taking the first voltage V1 as an example of a battery module 20 with two batteries in series, and the third voltage V3 as a VGH voltage, the first voltage V1 ranges from about 6.8V to 9V, and the VGH voltage is a variable voltage, which ranges from about 7V to 9V or less. Therefore, the second conversion module 120 needs to adjust the type of voltage processing in real time according to the situation during operation to make the third voltage V3 accurately approach the second target voltage.

[0056] Furthermore, when the magnitude relationship between the second target voltage and the first voltage V1 does not change, that is, when the second target voltage is continuously greater than or equal to the first voltage V1, the second conversion module 120 may also only have a voltage boosting function. Taking the VGH voltage as a fixed 9V voltage as an example, the second conversion module 120 only needs to boost the first voltage V1 to accurately approach the second target voltage during operation.

[0057] Optionally, the above selection of the second conversion module 120 may be controlled by the controller, that is, the controller may determine whether the second conversion module 120 needs to perform a voltage step-up process or a voltage step-down process, and output a corresponding signal to the second conversion module 120 according to the determination result, so that the second conversion module 120 performs the corresponding process. The above selection may also be performed spontaneously by the second conversion module 120, and the second conversion module 120 is provided with a comparator and other components, which may compare the second voltage V2 with the second target voltage, and control the back-end circuit in the second conversion module 120 to perform the corresponding process according to the comparison result. By flexibly selecting the processing mode of the second conversion module 120, it is not necessary to set too many conversion modules in the power management circuit 10 to meet the requirements of multiple voltage power supply of the load circuit.

[0058] In some embodiments, Figure 4 As shown, the power management circuit 10 further includes: a third conversion module 130 .

[0059] The third conversion module 130 is used for obtaining a fifth voltage V5 by performing a voltage-boosting process on the connected fourth voltage V4, where the fourth voltage V4 is a voltage obtained by performing a voltage-reducing process on the first voltage V1.

[0060] Among them, the fourth voltage V4 can be obtained by reducing the voltage of the first voltage V1 by the charge pump module 40. The third conversion module 130 can be connected to the battery module 20 through the charge pump module 40 to access the fourth voltage V4 output by the charge pump module 40, and obtain the fifth voltage V5 after the fourth voltage V4 is boosted. The fifth voltage V5 can be a lower voltage than the second voltage V2 and the third voltage V3. For the third conversion module 130 that needs to output a relatively low voltage, connecting it to the charge pump module 40 can effectively avoid the problem of insufficient voltage reduction in the third conversion module 130, thereby ensuring that the third conversion module 130 can stably provide the fifth voltage V5.

[0061] Among them, the first conversion module 110, the second conversion module 120 and the third conversion module 130 can be respectively connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage, the third voltage and the fifth voltage. Therefore, through the flexible selection of the processing methods of the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120, the power supply to multiple different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit can be realized based on the first conversion module 110, the second conversion module 120 for the first voltage V1, the third conversion module 130 and the charge pump module 40 for the first voltage V1 The secondary voltage conversion is realized to meet the various power supply requirements of the same load circuit. In addition, the power management circuit can adapt to both the conversion processing of a single battery cell voltage and the conversion processing of multiple battery cells voltage, so as to improve the compatibility of the power management circuit.

[0062] In one embodiment, taking the load circuit as a display driving circuit as an example, the load circuit continuously receives the ELVDD voltage while continuously receiving the AVDD voltage and the VGH voltage. The ELVDD voltage refers to a power supply voltage provided to the display screen. The ELVDD voltage can be, but is not limited to, 4.6V, 4.8V, etc. In this embodiment, the load circuit is configured with a source drive voltage input terminal, a gate drive voltage input terminal, and a power supply voltage input terminal; wherein the first conversion module 110 is used to connect to the source drive voltage input terminal to provide a target source drive voltage to the load circuit; the second conversion module 120 is used to connect to the gate drive voltage input terminal to provide a target gate drive voltage to the load circuit; and the third conversion module 130 is used to connect to the power supply voltage input terminal to provide a target power supply voltage (i.e., the ELVDD voltage) to the load circuit. Therefore, based on the first conversion module 110, the second conversion module 120 and the third conversion module 130 of this embodiment, it can be effectively adapted to the multi-voltage usage scenario in which the load circuit continuously receives the AVDD voltage, the VGH voltage and the ELVDD voltage, so that the load circuit drives the working state of the display screen under the power supply of the AVDD voltage, the VGH voltage and the ELVDD voltage.

[0063] In one embodiment, at least one target module in the first conversion module 110 and the second conversion module 120 can switchably perform boost processing or buck processing on the first voltage; the at least one target module may include a buck / boost circuit. For example, the first conversion module 110 includes a buck / boost circuit. Among them, the structure of the buck / boost circuit is relatively simple, and it can realize the required voltage conversion function. Therefore, it can effectively reduce the volume of the target conversion module, so that the power management circuit 10 of this embodiment is more suitable for lightweight electronic devices. In other embodiments, the at least one target module may also adopt any circuit architecture with both boost processing and buck processing functions, such as a Cuk circuit, a Sepic circuit, etc., which is not limited here.

[0064] Figure 5 FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a buck / boost circuit in an embodiment. Figure 5 As shown, the buck / boost circuit mentioned above includes a first switch Q1, a second switch Q2, a third switch Q3, a fourth switch Q4 and a first inductor L1 ( Figure 5 The first conversion module 110 includes a buck / boost circuit as an example for illustration).

[0065] Among them, the first end of the first switch Q1 is used to receive the first voltage V1, the first end of the second switch Q2 is connected to the second end of the first switch Q1, the second end of the second switch Q2 is used to connect to the ground end, the first end of the third switch Q3 is the output end of the target module to output the corresponding voltage, the first end of the fourth switch Q4 is connected to the second end of the third switch Q3, the second end of the fourth switch Q4 is used to connect to the ground end, and the two ends of the first inductor L1 are respectively connected to the second end of the first switch Q1 and the second end of the third switch Q3. Optionally, the above-mentioned switch can be, for example, a MOS transistor ( Figure 5 Taking this as an example), in other embodiments, it can also be a common switch.

[0066] Among them, the control end of the first switch Q1, the control end of the second switch Q2, the control end of the third switch Q3 and the control end of the fourth switch Q4 are respectively used to access the first control instruction, so that the target module performs a voltage boost or voltage reduction process on the first voltage under the drive of the first control instruction. Further, the first control instruction can be generated by a controller based on actual demand conditions, and the controller can be arranged inside the power management circuit 10 or outside the power management circuit 10.

[0067] Specifically, when the first target voltage is greater than the first voltage V1, the buck / boost circuit operates in boost mode to boost the first voltage V1. In boost mode, the first switch Q1 operates in normally open mode, and the second switch Q2 operates in normally closed mode. At the same time, the first inductor L1, the third switch Q3 and the fourth switch Q4 form a boost converter, and the third switch Q3 and the fourth switch Q4 are alternately turned on and off, so that the first voltage V1 can be boosted by continuously charging and discharging the first inductor L1. Moreover, by adjusting the duty cycle of the driving signal received by the third switch Q3 and the fourth switch Q4, the boost amplitude of the first voltage V1 can be changed to output a fourth voltage V4 that is close to the target voltage. When the first target voltage is less than the first voltage V1, the buck / boost circuit operates in buck mode, thereby reducing the voltage of the first voltage V1. In buck mode, the third switch Q3 operates in normally open mode, and the fourth switch Q4 operates in normally closed mode. At the same time, the first inductor L1, the first switch Q1 and the second switch Q2 form a buck converter, and the first switch Q1 and the second switch Q2 are alternately turned on and off, so that the first voltage V1 can be stepped down by continuously charging and discharging the first inductor L1. Moreover, by adjusting the duty cycle of the driving signal received by the first switch Q1 and the second switch Q2, the step-down amplitude of the first voltage V1 can be changed to output a fourth voltage V4 close to the target voltage.

[0068] In one embodiment, the second conversion module 120 and the third conversion module 130 may both include a boost circuit, which has a relatively simple structure and can achieve the required boost function, so that the volume of the second conversion module 120 and the third conversion module 130 can be effectively reduced, so that the power management circuit 10 of this embodiment is more suitable for lightweight electronic devices. In other embodiments, the second conversion module 120 and the third conversion module 130 may also adopt a circuit architecture with a boost processing function such as a charge pump, which is not limited here.

[0069] Figure 6 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a boost circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 As shown, the boost circuit mentioned above includes a second inductor L2, a fifth switch Q5 and a sixth switch Q6.

[0070] One end of the second inductor L2 is used to connect to the first voltage V1 ( Figure 6 Taking the second conversion module 120 including a boost circuit as an example, the first end of the fifth switch Q5 is used to output the third voltage V3, the second end of the fifth switch Q5 is connected to the other end of the second inductor L2, the first end of the sixth switch Q6 is connected to the second end of the fifth switch Q5, and the second end of the sixth switch Q6 is used to connect to the ground terminal. Among them, the control end of the fifth switch Q5 and the control end of the sixth switch Q6 are respectively used to access the second control instruction, so that the second conversion module 120 performs a boost process on the first voltage V1 under the drive of the second control instruction. Specifically, Q5 and Q6 are alternately turned on and off, and the boost process of the first voltage V1 can be achieved by continuously charging and discharging the second inductor L2. Moreover, by adjusting the duty cycle of the driving signal received by the fifth switch Q5 and the sixth switch Q6, the boost amplitude of the first voltage V1 can be changed to output the required third voltage V3. Further, the second control instruction can be generated by a controller based on actual demand conditions, and the controller can be arranged inside the power management circuit 10 or outside the power management circuit 10.

[0071] The embodiment of the present application also provides a power management chip, including the power management circuit of the above embodiment. The power management chip can directly perform a first-level voltage conversion process on the first voltage provided by the battery module of the multi-cell in series through the first conversion module and the second conversion module to obtain the second voltage and the third voltage respectively, and can provide the second voltage and the third voltage to the same load circuit at the same time, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage. On the one hand, the power management chip directly draws power from the battery module and performs a first-level voltage conversion process, which can reduce the additional power consumption generated when the charge pump is converted to a single-cell voltage, improve the overall conversion efficiency, greatly improve the power supply efficiency of the power management circuit, and reduce the loss of the whole machine; on the other hand, the power management chip can simultaneously provide two driving voltages for the same load circuit, so that the load circuit does not need to perform multi-level conversion again, and does not need to introduce additional input voltage, which also reduces additional losses and further reduces the loss of the whole machine. In addition, at least one of the first conversion module and the second conversion module in the embodiment of the present application can choose to perform one of the boost processing and the buck processing according to the output voltage requirement. By flexibly selecting the processing method of the at least one module, there is no need to set up too many conversion modules in the power management chip to meet the output requirements of multiple voltages, thereby providing a power management chip with a relatively small circuit volume.

[0072] Furthermore, when the power management chip further includes the third conversion module in the above embodiment, the power management chip may also be provided with a voltage input port connected to the charge pump module to adapt the single cell voltage, thereby improving the compatibility of the power management chip with single cell voltage and multi-cell voltage.

[0073] Furthermore, if Figure 7 As shown, the power management chip 101 may be configured with a first voltage input port V1X, a second voltage input port V2X and a plurality of output ports, wherein the first voltage input port V1X is used to access the fourth voltage of the above embodiment, and the second voltage input port V2X is used to access the first voltage of the above embodiment.

[0074] Since most of the current power management chips are designed for single-cell systems, the input voltage of the power management chip is usually designed to be a single-cell voltage. However, with the continuous development of power supply technology, battery modules with dual-cell and four-cell architectures have been gradually applied in electronic devices, and the battery modules can output a variety of different voltages to the back-end circuit as needed. Therefore, compared with the power management chip in the related art, the power management chip of this embodiment is provided with a voltage input port directly connected to the battery module, so that the power management chip can be adapted to the battery module of multiple cells, thereby realizing flexible and accurate voltage conversion, and providing a power management chip with low loss and high conversion efficiency.

[0075] The embodiment of the present application also provides a power supply module, including: a battery module for providing a first voltage, the battery module including a plurality of battery cells connected in series; and a power management circuit as in the above embodiment or a power management chip as in the above embodiment. The power supply module can support multiple power supply requirements of the same load circuit, and also has a higher power supply conversion efficiency, lower heat loss and smaller volume, which can improve the overall battery life of the electronic device and reduce the occupied area in the electronic device.

[0076] It can be understood that the power supply module can also support multiple power supply requirements of different load circuits at the same time or in different time periods. The load circuit can be, for example, a display driver circuit, a radio frequency device, etc. in an electronic device, and this embodiment does not further limit this. Among them, the electronic device can be various personal computers, laptops, smart phones, tablet computers, Internet of Things devices and portable wearable devices. The Internet of Things devices can be smart speakers, smart TVs, smart air conditioners, smart car-mounted devices, etc. Portable wearable devices can be smart watches, smart bracelets, head-mounted devices, etc.

[0077] In one embodiment, if Figure 8 , Fig. 9 As shown, the power management circuit or the power management chip also includes a third conversion module 130 (the figure takes the dual-cell battery module 20, the 2:1CP charge pump module 40, and the power management chip 101 as examples, and Figure 8 For example, the first conversion module 110 includes a buck / boost circuit, the second conversion module 120, and the third conversion module each includes a boost circuit. Fig. 9 Taking the first conversion module 110, the second conversion module 120 respectively including buck / boost circuits, and the third conversion module respectively including boost circuits as an example), and the third conversion module 130 is used to obtain the fifth voltage V5 after boosting the connected fourth voltage V4, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage V2, the third voltage V3 and the fifth voltage V5 (please refer to the relevant introduction of the third conversion module 130 in the above embodiment, which will not be repeated here); the power supply module also includes: a charge pump module 40.

[0078] The charge pump module 40 is used for receiving the first voltage V1 provided by the battery module 20 and performing voltage reduction processing on the first voltage V1 to provide a fourth voltage V4 to the third conversion module 130 .

[0079] The charge pump module 40 is connected to the output end of the battery module 20 and the input end of the third conversion module 130 respectively, and is used to receive the first voltage V1 output by the battery module 20, and provide a fourth voltage V4 according to the first voltage V1, wherein the fourth voltage V4 is lower than the first voltage V1. It can be understood that the conversion ratio of the charge pump module 40 corresponds to the number of cells in the battery module 20. When the battery module 20 includes n series-connected cells, the conversion ratio of the charge pump module 40 can be n:1.

[0080] The present application also provides a voltage regulation method. Fig.10 The flowchart of a voltage regulation method according to an embodiment is applied to an electronic device, wherein the electronic device includes a battery module, and the battery module includes a plurality of battery cells connected in series. Fig.10 The voltage regulation method includes steps 102 to 106. It can be understood that the related definitions of the connection relationship in this embodiment can refer to the related descriptions in the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0081] Step 102: determine a first voltage output by the battery module.

[0082] Step 104 : driving the first conversion module to perform voltage conversion on the first voltage output by the battery module to provide a second voltage for power supply.

[0083] Step 106 : driving the second conversion module to perform voltage conversion on the first voltage to provide a third voltage for power supply.

[0084] Among them, the first conversion module and the second conversion module can be respectively connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage. Further, the above steps can be performed by a controller, which drives the first conversion module to convert the first voltage output by the battery module according to the first target voltage to provide a second voltage for power supply, and drives the second conversion module to convert the first voltage according to the second target voltage to provide a third voltage for power supply. The first target voltage and the second target voltage are specifically determined according to the power supply requirements of the load circuit.

[0085] The voltage regulation method provided in this embodiment, on the one hand, can reduce the extra power consumption generated when the charge pump is converted to the single-cell voltage by directly drawing power from the battery module through the first conversion module and the second conversion module, and perform a first-level voltage conversion process, thereby improving the overall conversion efficiency, greatly improving the power supply efficiency of the power management circuit, and reducing the loss of the whole machine; on the other hand, the first conversion module and the second conversion module can simultaneously provide two driving voltages for the same load circuit, so that the load circuit does not need to perform multi-stage conversion processing again, and does not need to introduce additional input voltage, which also reduces additional losses and further reduces the loss of the whole machine. In addition, at least one of the first conversion module and the second conversion module in the embodiment of the present application can choose to perform one of the boost processing and the buck processing according to the output voltage requirement. By flexibly selecting the processing method of the at least one module, it is not necessary to set too many conversion modules in the power management circuit to meet the output requirements of multiple voltages, so as to provide a power management circuit with a relatively small circuit volume.

[0086] It should be understood that although Fig.10 The steps in the flowchart are shown in sequence as indicated by the arrows, but these steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise specified in this document, there is no strict order restriction for the execution of these steps, and these steps can be executed in other orders. Moreover, Fig.10 At least part of the steps may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages. These sub-steps or stages are not necessarily executed at the same time, but can be executed at different times. The execution order of these sub-steps or stages is not necessarily sequential, but can be executed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least part of the sub-steps or stages of other steps.

[0087] The embodiment of the present application also provides an electronic device, including a power management circuit as in the above embodiment, or a power management chip as in the above embodiment, or a power supply module as in the above embodiment; and a load circuit, wherein different voltage input terminals of the load circuit are respectively connected to a second voltage and a third voltage, and the load circuit is used to work under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage. Based on the aforementioned power management circuit, power management chip, and power supply module, the present embodiment provides an electronic device with high voltage conversion efficiency and low power consumption.

[0088] Furthermore, the electronic device may include a display screen, and the load circuit may be a display driving circuit, which is disposed on the display panel and is used to drive the display screen based on the second voltage and the third voltage. For the relevant introduction of the display driving circuit, reference may be made to the above embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0089] Further, Fig.11The internal structure diagram of an electronic device of an embodiment. The electronic device includes a processor, a memory, a communication interface, a display screen and an input device connected by a system bus. Among them, the processor of the electronic device is used to provide computing and control capabilities. The memory of the electronic device includes a non-volatile storage medium and an internal memory. The non-volatile storage medium stores an operating system and a computer program. The internal memory provides an environment for the operation of the operating system and the computer program in the non-volatile storage medium. The communication interface of the electronic device is used to communicate with an external terminal in a wired or wireless manner, and the wireless manner can be implemented through WIFI, a mobile cellular network, NFC (near field communication) or other technologies. When the computer program is executed by the processor, a voltage regulation method is implemented. The display screen of the electronic device can be a liquid crystal display screen or an electronic ink display screen, and the input device of the electronic device can be a touch layer covered on the display screen, or a key, trackball or touchpad set on the housing of the electronic device, or an external keyboard, touchpad or mouse, etc.

[0090] Those skilled in the art will understand that Fig.11 The structure shown in the figure is merely a block diagram of a partial structure related to the scheme of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the electronic device to which the scheme of the present application is applied. The specific electronic device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or have a different arrangement of components.

[0091] In one embodiment, an electronic device is provided, including a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor implements the steps in the above method embodiments when executing the computer program.

[0092] In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps in the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0093] In one embodiment, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program, which implements the steps in the above method embodiments when executed by a processor.

[0094] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program, and the computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above-mentioned methods. Among them, any reference to the memory, database or other medium used in the embodiments provided in the present application can include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can include read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory, optical memory, high-density embedded non-volatile memory, resistive random access memory (ReRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), phase change memory (PCM), graphene memory, etc. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory, etc. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM may be in various forms, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM).

[0095] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description concise, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification. The above embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and their descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the patent of this application. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this field, without departing from the concept of the present application, several deformations and improvements can be made, which all belong to the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the patent of this application shall be based on the attached claims.

Claims

1. A power management circuit, characterized in that: include: A first conversion module, used for receiving a first voltage provided by a battery module and converting the first voltage into a second voltage; the battery module includes a plurality of battery cells connected in series; a second conversion module, configured to access the first voltage output by the battery module and obtain a third voltage after performing voltage conversion on the first voltage; The first conversion module and the second conversion module support being connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit respectively, so that the load circuit operates under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage.

2. The power management circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The load circuit is configured with a source drive voltage input terminal and a gate drive voltage input terminal; Among them, the first conversion module is used to connect with the source drive voltage input terminal to provide a target source drive voltage to the load circuit; the second conversion module is used to connect with the gate drive voltage input terminal to provide a target gate drive voltage to the load circuit.

3. The power management circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first conversion module is configured to, when the first voltage is lower than a first target voltage, boost the first voltage to generate the second voltage; and, when the first voltage is higher than the first target voltage, step down the first voltage to generate the second voltage.

4. The power management circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second conversion module is configured to boost the first voltage to generate the third voltage when the first voltage is lower than the second target voltage; and / or the second conversion module is configured to step down the first voltage to generate the third voltage when the first voltage is higher than the second target voltage.

5. The power management circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: a third conversion module, configured to obtain a fifth voltage by performing a voltage-boosting process on the connected fourth voltage, wherein the fourth voltage is a voltage obtained by performing a voltage-dropping process on the first voltage; Among them, the first conversion module, the second conversion module and the third conversion module can be respectively connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage, the third voltage and the fifth voltage.

6. The power management circuit according to claim 5, characterized in that: The load circuit is configured with a source drive voltage input terminal, a gate drive voltage input terminal and a power supply voltage input terminal; Among them, the first conversion module is used to be connected to the source drive voltage input terminal to provide a target source drive voltage to the load circuit; the second conversion module is used to be connected to the gate drive voltage input terminal to provide a target gate drive voltage to the load circuit; the third conversion module is used to be connected to the power supply voltage input terminal to provide a target power supply voltage to the load circuit.

7. The power management circuit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: At least one target module in the first conversion module and the second conversion module can switchably perform a voltage step-up process or a voltage step-down process on the first voltage; the target module includes: a first switch, wherein a first end of the first switch is used to connect to the first voltage; a second switch, wherein a first end of the second switch is connected to a second end of the first switch, and the second end of the second switch is used to be connected to a ground end; a third switch, wherein a first end of the third switch is an output end of the target module; a fourth switch, wherein a first end of the fourth switch is connected to a second end of the third switch, and a second end of the fourth switch is used to connect to the ground end; A first inductor, wherein two ends of the first inductor are respectively connected to the second end of the first switch and the second end of the third switch; Among them, the controlled end of the first switch, the controlled end of the second switch, the controlled end of the third switch and the controlled end of the fourth switch are respectively used to access the first control instruction, so that the target module can boost or reduce the first voltage under the drive of the first control instruction.

8. The power management circuit according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The second conversion module is configured to perform a voltage-boosting regulation process on the first voltage to obtain the third voltage; The second conversion module comprises: a second inductor, one end of which is used to connect to the first voltage; a fifth switch, wherein a first end of the fifth switch is used to output the third voltage, and a second end of the fifth switch is connected to the other end of the second inductor; a sixth switch, wherein a first end of the sixth switch is connected to a second end of the fifth switch, and a second end of the sixth switch is used to be connected to a ground end; The controlled end of the fifth switch and the controlled end of the sixth switch are respectively used to access the second control instruction, so that the second conversion module performs a voltage boost process on the first voltage under the drive of the second control instruction.

9. A power management chip, characterized in that: Comprising a power management circuit as described in any one of claims 1-8.

10. A power supply module, characterized in that: include: A battery module, configured to provide a first voltage, wherein the battery module comprises a plurality of battery cells connected in series; and A power management circuit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 or a power management chip as claimed in claim 9.

11. The power supply module according to claim 10, characterized in that: In the case where the power management circuit or the power management chip further includes a third conversion module, and the third conversion module is used to obtain a fifth voltage after performing a voltage-boosting process on the connected fourth voltage, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage, the third voltage and the fifth voltage; The power supply module also includes: A charge pump module is used to access the first voltage provided by the battery module and perform voltage reduction processing on the first voltage to provide the fourth voltage to the third conversion module.

12. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: The power management circuit according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or the power management chip according to claim 9, or the power supply module according to any one of claims 10 to 11; and A load circuit, wherein different voltage input terminals of the load circuit are respectively connected to the second voltage and the third voltage, and the load circuit is used to work under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage.

13. The electronic device according to claim 12, characterized in that: The electronic device further includes a display screen; the load circuit is a display driving circuit, which is used to drive the display screen in an operating state based on the second voltage and the third voltage.

14. A voltage regulation method, characterized in that: Applied to electronic equipment, the electronic equipment includes a battery module, the battery module includes a plurality of battery cells connected in series; the voltage regulation method includes: Determining a first voltage output by the battery module; driving a first conversion module to perform voltage conversion on the first voltage to provide a second voltage for power supply; driving the second conversion module to perform voltage conversion on the first voltage to provide a third voltage for power supply; The first conversion module and the second conversion module can be respectively connected to different voltage input terminals of the same load circuit, so that the load circuit works under the power supply of the second voltage and the third voltage.

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