Driving circuit for providing active heat balance, multi-phase voltage regulating circuit and method thereof

Abstract

The invention provides a driving circuit providing active heat balance, a multi-phase voltage adjusting circuit and a method thereof. The driving circuit comprises a first switch, a second switch, a temperature sensing circuit and a control circuit. The first switch is provided with a first end, a second end and a control end, and the first end of the first switch is used for receiving input voltage. The second switch is provided with a first end, a second end and a control end, the first end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the first switch, and the second end of the second switch is coupled to the ground. The temperature sensing circuit is used for sensing a temperature indication signal. The control circuit is used for receiving the PWM control signal and the temperature indication signal and providing an adjusted PWM control signal according to the PWM control signal and the temperature indication signal. Wherein the adjusted PWM control signal and the PWM control signal have different conduction time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronic circuit, and more specifically, to a driving circuit of a multi-phase voltage regulating circuit. Background Art

[0002] Interleaved multi-phase voltage regulation circuits are widely used in various high-current applications, such as processors or memory. By connecting multi-phase power circuits in parallel, a controller provides a pulse width modulation (PWM) control signal for each phase, so that the output current of the corresponding load can be provided by controlling the operation of each phase, or the parallel N phases can be switched synchronously when the load requires a high current output, and the input and output ripples are reduced.

[0003] However, each phase may have a different temperature due to the operation of different PWM control signals, the difference in circuit layout of each phase, or the various parameters of each phase. For the overall efficiency of the system, it is also very important to achieve thermal balance between the power circuits of each phase. One method is that each phase power circuit will feedback temperature information to the controller, and the controller adjusts the current of each phase by controlling the PWM signal to achieve the effect of controlling the temperature. However, in the case where there may be multiple power circuits in parallel in each phase, it is not possible to adjust the temperature of different power circuits of the same phase through the PWM control signal. Summary of the invention

[0004] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a driving circuit is provided, comprising a first switch, a second switch, a temperature sensing circuit and a control circuit. The first switch has a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the first switch is used to receive an input voltage. The second switch has a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the first switch, and the second end of the second switch is coupled to ground. The temperature sensing circuit is used to sense a temperature indication signal. The control circuit is used to receive a PWM control signal and a temperature indication signal, and provide an adjusted PWM control signal according to the PWM control signal and the temperature indication signal. The adjusted PWM control signal and the PWM control signal have different on-times.

[0005] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a multi-phase voltage regulation circuit is provided, including a plurality of drive circuits and a controller. Each drive circuit includes an input pin, a PWM pin, a temperature pin and a switch pin, wherein the input pin is used to receive an input voltage, the PWM pin is used to receive a PWM control signal, the temperature pin is used to provide a temperature indication signal and the temperature pins of the drive circuit are coupled to each other, and the switch pin is used to provide an adjusted PWM control signal. The controller includes a plurality of PWM control pins and a temperature reporting pin, wherein the PWM control pin is coupled to the PWM pin of the drive circuit to provide a corresponding PWM control signal; wherein the temperature reporting pin is coupled to the temperature pin of the drive circuit to send a temperature reporting instruction to the drive circuit and receive temperature information from the drive circuit.

[0006] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a driving circuit is provided, including an input pin, a PWM pin, a temperature pin, a switch pin, a first switch, a second switch, a temperature sensing circuit and a control circuit. The input pin is used to receive an input voltage. The PWM pin is used to receive a PWM control signal. The temperature pin is used to provide a temperature indication signal, wherein the temperature pin is used to couple to a temperature pin corresponding to another driving circuit. The switch pin is used to provide an adjusted PWM control signal. The first switch has a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the first switch is coupled to a voltage source, and the second end of the first switch is coupled to the switch pin. The second switch has a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the first switch and the switch pin, and the second end of the second switch is coupled to ground.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a driving circuit is provided, comprising a first switch, a second switch, a temperature sensing circuit, an on-time adjustment circuit and a control circuit. The first switch has a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the first switch is used to receive an input voltage. The second switch has a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the first switch, and the second end of the second switch is coupled to ground. The temperature sensing circuit is used to sense a temperature indication signal. The on-time adjustment circuit is used to provide an on-time adjustment value according to the temperature indication signal. The control circuit is used to receive a PWM control signal and an on-time adjustment value, and provide an adjusted PWM control signal according to the PWM control signal and the on-time adjustment value to control the on or off of the first switch and the second switch. Wherein, the adjusted PWM control signal has a different on-time from the PWM control signal.

[0008] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a multi-phase voltage adjustment circuit is provided, including a plurality of drive circuits and a controller. Each drive circuit includes an input pin, a PWM pin, a temperature pin and a switch pin, wherein the input pin is used to receive an input voltage, the PWM pin is used to receive a PWM control signal, the temperature pin is used to provide a temperature indication signal and the temperature pins of the drive circuit are coupled to each other, and the switch pin is used to provide an adjusted PWM control signal. The controller includes a plurality of PWM control pins, wherein the PWM control pin is coupled to the PWM pin of the drive circuit to provide a corresponding PWM control signal. The adjusted PWM control signal of one of the plurality of drive circuits has a different on-time from the received PWM control signal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] In order to better understand the present invention, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings. In which, the same components have the same reference numerals. The following drawings are for illustration only and may only show a portion of the device and are not necessarily drawn to actual scale.

[0010] Figure 1 FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a multi-phase voltage regulation circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] Figure 2 FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a multi-phase voltage regulation circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a temperature reporting network of a multi-phase voltage regulation circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0013] Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing active thermal balance adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Figure 5 A flow chart of a method for controlling a driving circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0015] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a temperature processing module of a controller according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0016] Figure 7 FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of signals for distributing identification codes to a multi-phase voltage converter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 8 A flow chart of a method for controlling a driving circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0018] Fig. 9 FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a multi-phase voltage regulation circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of a driving circuit for a multi-phase voltage regulation circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0020] Fig.11 A flow chart of a method for controlling a driving circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. It should be noted that the embodiments described herein are only for illustration and are not intended to limit the present invention. In the following description, a large number of specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not necessarily used to implement the present invention. In other examples, in order to avoid confusing the present invention, known circuits, materials or methods are not specifically described.

[0022] Terms described herein such as "coupled" and "connected" are defined as being connected directly or indirectly in an electrical or non-electrical manner. Terms such as "one", "the" and "the plurality" include a plurality. The term "in one embodiment" used in this article does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but may also be the same embodiment. For ease of explanation, the transistor used in this article is a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) having a first terminal (drain), a second terminal (source) and a control terminal (gate). Those skilled in the art should understand that other types of transistors can also be used, and the connection method of the transistors can be modified accordingly. Those skilled in the art should understand that the meaning of the above terms does not limit these terms, but is only used to provide illustrative examples for these terms.

[0023] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a multi-phase voltage regulating circuit 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, the multi-phase voltage regulating circuit 100 includes a controller 110 and n drive circuits 120-1, 120-2, ..., 120-n, where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. In one embodiment, each drive circuit provides one phase of the multi-phase voltage converter. In one embodiment, each phase provides an output current accordingly, and the n phases in parallel can be switched synchronously to provide an added large current output when a load requires a large current, and at the same time reduce the input and output ripples. In another embodiment, the output current of each phase can be adjusted accordingly according to the needs of the load.

[0024] In one embodiment, the controller 110 is an integrated circuit (IC). Figure 1As shown, the controller 110 includes a plurality of PWM control pins (such as PWM1, PWM2, ..., PWMn) and a temperature reporting pin VTEMP. The PWM control pin is coupled to the PWM pin of the driving circuit, and is used to provide a corresponding PWM control signal to control the corresponding driving circuit. In one embodiment, the PWM1 pin of the controller 110 provides a PWM control signal SPWM1 of the first phase to the driving circuit 120-1, and the PWM2 pin of the controller 110 provides a PWM control signal SPWM2 of the second phase to the driving circuit 120-2, and so on. In another embodiment, a PWM control pin of the controller 110 may also provide a PWM control signal of the same phase to multiple driving circuits. Figure 1 As shown, the temperature reporting pin VTEMP of the controller 110 is coupled to the temperature pins VTEMP of all the driving circuits for sending temperature reporting instructions to the driving circuits and receiving temperature information from the driving circuits.

[0025] In one embodiment, the controller 110 detects the feedback signal and adjusts the PMW control signal according to the feedback signal to control the operation of the drive circuit. The feedback signal is, for example, an output voltage or an output current. In another embodiment, the multi-phase voltage regulation circuit 100 further includes a feedback circuit (not shown). The feedback circuit provides a feedback signal to the controller 110. The controller 110 generates a PMW control signal according to the received feedback signal to adjust the control operation of the drive circuit. In another embodiment, the feedback signal can be fed back to the controller 110 through the drive circuit, so that the controller 110 correspondingly adjusts the PMW control signal provided to each drive circuit. In some embodiments, the drive circuit feeds back data to the controller 110, and the controller 110 adjusts the PMW control signal provided to each drive circuit 120 according to the data fed back by the drive circuit. For example, the data may include temperature information, a current signal, a voltage signal, a fault signal or other detection signals.

[0026] In one embodiment, the drive circuits 120-1, 120-2, ..., 120-n are integrated circuits. Each drive circuit includes an input pin VIN, a PWM pin, a temperature pin VTEMP, and a switch pin SW. The input pin VIN of each drive circuit is coupled to a voltage source to synchronously receive an input voltage Vin. The PWM pin is used to receive a corresponding PWM control signal (e.g., SPWM1, SPWM2, ..., SPWMn). The temperature pin VTEMP is used to provide a temperature indication signal. The switch pin SW of the drive circuit is used to provide an adjusted PWM control signal. In addition, the switch pin SW of each drive circuit is coupled to a voltage output node Vout through a corresponding inductor L1, L2, ..., Ln to provide an output voltage to a load. The output capacitor Cout is connected across both ends of the output voltage (e.g., the voltage output node Vout) to filter the output voltage signal.

[0027] In one embodiment, the controller 110 further includes a temperature processing module (not shown). The temperature processing module sends a temperature report instruction to the temperature report pin VTEMP of the controller 110, and records the temperature indication signal in a buffer. In one embodiment, the controller 110 simultaneously sends a temperature report instruction to all driver ICs to record the highest temperature T_max in all driver ICs. In another embodiment, the controller 110 records one of the temperatures T_phase 1 to T_phase n of each phase corresponding to the driver IC of each phase.

[0028] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a multi-phase voltage regulation circuit 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a PWM control pin PWM1 of a controller IC 210 provides a PWM control signal SPWM1 of the same phase to multiple driver ICs (e.g., 222 and 228), and a PWM control pin PWM2 of the controller 210 provides a PWM control signal SPWM2 of another phase to a driver IC 224.

[0029] In one embodiment, each driving circuit includes a switch M1, a switch M2, a temperature sensing circuit 272 and a control circuit 274. The first end of the switch M1 is coupled to a voltage source, and the second end of the switch M1 is coupled to the first end of the switch M2. The second end of the switch M2 is coupled to the ground through the GND pin. The temperature sensing circuit 272 is used to sense the temperature indication signal STEMP. The temperature indication signal STEMP is used to indicate the temperature of the corresponding driving IC. The control circuit 274 is used to generate a driving signal G1 and a driving signal G2 to control the conduction and / or disconnection of the transistors M1 and M2.

[0030] In this embodiment, although the driver IC 222 and the driver IC 228 receive the PWM control signal of the same phase, the two ICs may have different temperatures. In order to achieve temperature balance for the ICs receiving the PWM control signal of the same phase, the control circuit 274 of the driver IC receives the corresponding PWM control signal from the controller IC 210 through the PWM pin, and receives the temperature indication signal STEMP from the temperature sensing circuit 272, and provides the adjusted PWM control signal at the switch pin SW accordingly. In another embodiment, the adjusted PWM control signal is provided to the switch M1 and the switch M2 to control the on or off of the switch M1 and the switch M2. That is, although the driver IC 222 and the driver IC 228 receive the PWM control signal of the same phase, according to the difference in the temperature of the two ICs, after adjustment, the driver IC 222 and the driver IC 228 will have different on times, that is, the on or off of the switches M1 and M2 of the two ICs are no longer synchronized.

[0031] Next, refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4 Describe the operating principle of adjusting active heat balance. Figure 3 FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a temperature reporting network of a multi-phase voltage regulation circuit 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3 , the VTEMP pins of the driver IC 322 and the driver IC 328 are both coupled to the VTEMP pin of the controller IC 310. For example, the temperature indication signal sensed by the temperature sensing circuit 32 of the driver IC 322 is represented by a voltage Vtemp of 1.4V, while the temperature indication signal sensed by the temperature sensing circuit 34 of the driver IC 328 is represented by a voltage signal Vtemp of 1.48V. In one embodiment, the voltage Vtemp is proportional to the junction temperature of the driver IC 328. That is, the driver IC 328 has a higher temperature than the driver IC 322. At this time, the temperature indication signal Vtemp fed back by the temperature sensing circuits 32 / 34 of the two driver ICs will have a voltage difference ΔVTEMP, so that a current flows between the two driver ICs through the VTEMP pins connected together, for example Figure 3 The 390 shown indicates that the current flows from the driver IC 328 to the driver IC 322. Therefore, each driver IC can determine whether the driver IC is a relatively low-temperature driver IC or a relatively high-temperature IC compared to other driver ICs by detecting whether the VTEMP pin draws current (sink) from other driver ICs or flows current (source) to other driver ICs. For example, the driver IC 322 / 328 includes a unit 302 / 304 capable of detecting the direction of current, which can determine whether the temperature pin of the driver IC draws current from the temperature pin of other driver ICs or flows current to the temperature pin of other driver ICs. In one embodiment, the unit 302 / 304 capable of detecting the direction of current includes a resistor, which is connected in series with the temperature sensing circuit 32 / 34 and the VTEMP pin, and the direction of the current is known according to the voltage across the resistor. It should be understood that in this embodiment, although only two driver ICs are shown, the multi-phase voltage regulation circuit 300 can also include more driver ICs, and the VTEMP pin of each driver IC is coupled to the VTEMP pin of the controller IC 310.

[0032] Figure 4Schematic diagram of active thermal balance adjustment according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, when it is determined that the driver IC 322 has a relatively low temperature, the control circuit of the driver IC 322 extends the on-time of the PWM control signal SPWM and provides an adjusted PWM control signal SADJ. For example, when the on-time of the PWM control signal SPWM provided by the controller IC 310 is T1=t2-t1, the driver IC 322 with a lower temperature will operate at a longer on-time T2=t3-t1 to achieve thermal balance. Among them, the adjustment value Δt can be determined according to the temperature of the driver IC. In one embodiment, the on-time of the PWM control signal has an upper limit value, for example, not exceeding TMAX=t4-t1. In another embodiment, the on-time of the PWM control signal has a lower limit value, for example, the same as the on-time T1 of the PWM control signal SPWM provided by the controller IC 310. In one embodiment, the difference between the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the on-time is, for example, 10ns. It should be understood that although in Figure 4 In the embodiment, the rising edges of the PWM control signal SPWM provided by the controller IC 310 and the adjusted PWM control signal SADJ are synchronized, but in practice there can be a delay between the two signals as long as the two signals have different on-times.

[0033] Figure 5 FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a method 500 for controlling a driving circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 , Figure 2 or Figure 3 The method 500 is performed using the driver circuit or driver IC shown in the figure. It should be understood that the method 500 can also be performed using the components of the driver circuit, and other circuit components can also be used to perform the method 500. The method 500 includes the following operations 510 to 540. In operation 510, the driver IC provides a temperature indication signal. In operation 520, the driver IC determines whether the temperature pin of the driver IC draws current from the temperature pin of the other driver IC. When it is determined that the temperature pin of the driver IC draws current from the temperature pin of the other driver IC, in operation 530, the driver IC extends the on-time of the PWM control signal to generate an adjusted PWM control signal. Otherwise, when it is determined that the temperature pin of the driver IC flows out current to the temperature pin of the other driver IC, in operation 540, the driver IC shortens the on-time of the PWM control signal to generate an adjusted PWM control signal.

[0034] Figure 6 FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of a temperature processing module 62 of a controller 610 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that the specific structure of the temperature processing module 62 is not limited to Figure 6 The embodiment shown.

[0035] exist Figure 6 In the illustrated embodiment, the temperature processing module 62 includes an instruction sending module 621, a temperature recording module 625, and an analog-to-digital converter 622. In one embodiment, after the temperature reporting pin VTEMP of the controller 610 is forced to be in a first state, the instruction sending module 621 starts to send a temperature reporting instruction ACQ to the temperature reporting pin VTEMP. For example, the first state includes a high potential, maintaining a high potential for a predetermined time (e.g., 10us), or any other suitable state. In one embodiment, after the temperature processing module 62 sends the temperature reporting instruction ACQ, the controller 610 forces the temperature reporting pin VTEMP to be in a second state. For example, the second state includes a medium voltage level or any other suitable state different from the above-mentioned first state. In one embodiment, a potential between a high threshold voltage (e.g., 2V) and a voltage source VCC (e.g., 3.3V) is a high potential, a potential between a zero voltage (0V) and a low threshold voltage (e.g., 1V) is a low potential, and a voltage level between a high threshold voltage and a low threshold voltage is a medium voltage level.

[0036] In one embodiment, after the instruction sending module 621 completes sending the temperature report instruction ACQ, the analog-to-digital converter 622 senses the temperature information (such as Vtemp), converts the temperature information Vtemp into a digital signal through analog-to-digital conversion, and provides it to the temperature recording module 625. The temperature recording module 625 records the digital signal as a temperature signal T_max, or one of the phase temperature signals T_phase 1 to T_phase n.

[0037] In some embodiments, each driver IC has an identification code Id to distinguish it from other driver ICs without adding additional pins. Therefore, the controller can request a specified driver IC to report its information, such as the temperature of the driver IC. Therefore, the controller 610 can obtain the temperature of each driver IC, and can easily perform related functions such as dynamic thermal balance and individual health checks.

[0038] Figure 7 FIG. 7 is a timing diagram 700 showing signals for assigning identification codes to a multi-phase voltage converter according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7As shown, CS2 represents the voltage signal on the multitasking pin CS2 of the controller, CS1 represents the voltage signal on the multitasking pin CS1 of the controller, and Vtemp represents the voltage signal on the temperature reporting pin VTEMP of the controller. In some embodiments, the controller has n multitasking pins CS1 to CSn, which are respectively coupled to the current sensing pins CS of n driver ICs. The driver IC also includes a current sensing circuit (not shown) to sense the current signal, and feed back the current signal to the controller through the current sensing pin CS. In one embodiment, the current signal indicates the current flowing through the inductor. In another embodiment, the current signal indicates the output current.

[0039] like Figure 7 As shown, at time t1 after the controller is ready, the controller forces the multitasking pins CS1 to CS2 to be at a medium voltage level. At time t2, all driver ICs are ready, and the voltage on the temperature reporting pin VTEMP of the controller is provided by all driver ICs. At time t3, the controller forces the temperature reporting pin VTEMP and the multitasking pins CS1 to CS2 to be in a first state, such as maintaining a high potential for at least Tp1 duration (for example, Tp1 duration is equal to 10us) to initially assign an identification code. In one embodiment, after Tp1 duration, the controller maintains the temperature reporting pin VTEMP at a high impedance, and all driver ICs temporarily stop reporting their respective information through the temperature reporting pin VTEMP of the controller. Between time t4 and time t5, if no fault occurs, the voltage on the temperature reporting pin VTEMP of the controller drops. Between time t6 and time t7, the controller sends a clock signal CLOCK through the temperature reporting pin VTEMP, sends a data signal DATA1 to the current sensing pin CS of the first driver IC through the multitasking pin CS1, and sends a data signal DATA2 to the current sensing pin CS of the second driver IC through the multitasking pin CS2.

[0040] exist Figure 7In the illustrated embodiment, the clock signal CLOCK includes five pulses. In other embodiments, the clock signal CLOCK may have more or fewer pulses than five pulses. Then the first driver IC obtains the identification code 00001 according to the data signal DATA1 and the clock signal CLOCK, and the second driver IC obtains the identification code 00010 according to the data signal DATA2 and the clock signal CLOCK. At time t7, after the controller completes sending the clock signal CLOCK and the data signals DATA1 to DATA2, it forces the temperature reporting pin VTEMP and the multi-task pins CS1 and CS2 to be in the second state, such as at a medium voltage level. Then at time t8, the controller releases the forced control of the temperature reporting pin VTEMP and the multi-task pins CS1 to CS2. Between time t8 and time t9, if there is no fault, the voltage on the temperature reporting pin VTEMP of the controller drops. At time t9, the voltage on the temperature reporting pin VTEMP of the controller 610 is provided by the driver IC, the multi-task pin CS1 receives the current sensing signal of the first driver IC, and the multi-task pin CS2 receives the current sensing signal of the second driver IC.

[0041] In one embodiment, when the temperature pin VTEMP of the driver IC receives the temperature report instruction ACQ from the temperature report pin VTEMP of the controller, the control circuit of the driver IC determines whether the temperature report instruction ACQ includes the identification code Id of the corresponding driver IC. If the control circuit determines that the temperature report instruction ACQ includes the identification code Id of the driver IC, the control circuit of the driver IC sends the temperature information of the corresponding driver IC to the temperature report pin VTEMP of the controller through the temperature pin VTEMP.

[0042] For example, the temperature reporting instruction ACQ can select a specified driver IC to report information, such as reporting through the temperature reporting pin VTEMP of the controller, while other driver ICs stop reporting information. In one embodiment, the temperature reporting instruction ACQ can include multiple pulses, for example. When the identification code Id of the driver IC matches the number of pulses included in the temperature reporting instruction ACQ (for example, 3 pulses represent a driver IC with a specified identification code Id_3), the third driver IC reports its information to the controller. In another example, when the temperature reporting instruction ACQ matches the preset identification code Id_all (for example, 0 pulses represent all driver ICs with the specified preset identification code Id_all), all driver ICs report information to the controller at the same time.

[0043] Figure 8 FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a method 800 for controlling a driving circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 , Figure 2 or Figure 3The method 800 is performed by the driving circuit or driving IC shown in the figure. It should be understood that the various components of the driving circuit can also be used to perform the method 800, and other circuit components can also be used to perform the method 800. The method 800 includes the following operations. In this embodiment, the active thermal balance adjustment of multiple driving ICs is performed when each driving IC performs temperature feedback. In operation 810, the driving IC determines whether the temperature report instruction received from the controller contains the identification code of the driving IC corresponding to itself. For example, if the identification code Id matches (such as 3 pulses indicate the driving IC with the specified identification code Id_3), the third driving IC corresponding to the identification code Id_3 performs operation 820, provides a temperature indication signal and feeds back to the controller. Correspondingly, if the identification codes of other driving ICs do not match, operation 812 is performed, that is, the temperature indication signal is not fed back to the controller. In one embodiment, when the temperature report instruction matches the preset identification code Id_all, all driving ICs report information to the controller at the same time, and in this case, active thermal balance adjustment is not performed.

[0044] Next, in operation 830, the driver IC determines whether the temperature pin of the driver IC draws current from the temperature pins of other driver ICs. When it is determined that the temperature pin of the driver IC draws current from the temperature pins of other driver ICs, it means that this IC is a driver IC with a lower temperature, and then determines whether the current on-time is less than the upper limit value, as shown in operation 840. If so, in operation 860, the driver IC extends the on-time of the PWM control signal. If the current on-time is equal to the upper limit value, the on-time is maintained at the upper limit value, as shown in operation 862.

[0045] On the other hand, when it is determined that the temperature pin of the driver IC flows current to the temperature pin of other driver ICs, it indicates that this IC is a driver IC with a higher temperature. At this time, operation 850 is performed to determine whether the current on-time is greater than the lower limit. If so, in operation 870, the driver IC shortens the on-time of the PWM control signal. If the current on-time is equal to the lower limit, the on-time is maintained at the lower limit, as shown in operation 872.

[0046] In one embodiment, the difference between the upper limit and the lower limit of the conduction time is, for example, 10ns. In one example, 10ns can be divided into multiple stages for adjustment, for example, each adjustment value is only increased or decreased by 0.5ns. In detail, operation 830 is performed at intervals, and only 0.5ns is adjusted in operation 860 or operation 870. After a period of time after adjusting the conduction time (i.e., performing operation 860 or operation 870), operation 830 is performed again, that is, it is determined again whether there is still a temperature imbalance (i.e., there is a situation where current is drawn from other driver ICs or flows out of current to other driver ICs). If so, it is adjusted again to increase or decrease 0.5ns. Similarly, in each adjustment, if the conduction time reaches the upper limit or the lower limit, no adjustment is performed (as shown in operation 862 or 872), but after a period of time, operation 830 is performed again to determine whether adjustment is required. In one embodiment, it is further determined in operation 830 whether temperature balance is achieved, that is, current is neither drawn from other driver ICs nor flows to other driver ICs. In this case, the on-time is not adjusted until operation 830 is performed after a period of time.

[0047] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a multi-phase voltage regulation circuit 900 according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, the multi-phase voltage regulation circuit 900 includes a controller 910 and n drive circuits 920-1, 920-2, ..., 920-n, where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. In this embodiment, dynamic thermal balance can be performed without the need for temperature feedback. In detail, the controller 910 does not have a temperature processing module and does not include a temperature reporting pin VTEMP. In this embodiment, the controller 910 also does not send a temperature reporting instruction to each drive circuit, and the drive circuit does not feed back a temperature indication signal to the controller 910. In other words, the temperature pin VTEMP of the drive circuit does not need to be coupled to the controller 910. The temperature pins VTEMP of all drive circuits are coupled together to achieve dynamic thermal balance.

[0048] Fig.10 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a driving circuit 1000 for a multi-phase voltage adjustment circuit 900 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the driving circuit 1000 is an IC. Fig.10 As shown, the temperature sensing circuit 1060 generates a temperature indication signal and provides the temperature indication signal, such as a voltage signal Vtemp, at the temperature pin VTEMP. The on-time adjustment circuit 1080 provides an on-time adjustment value (such as Figure 4The control circuit 1010 is used to receive the PWM control signal from the PWM pin and the on-time adjustment value, so as to provide the adjusted PWM control signal at the switch pin SW to control the on or off of the switch M1 and the switch M2. Figure 4 SADJ) and PWM control signal (such as Figure 4 In one embodiment, when the temperature of the driver IC is greater than the temperature of another driver IC, the on-time adjustment circuit 1080 of the driver IC reduces the on-time adjustment value Δt, for example, by 0.5ns. In another embodiment, when the temperature of the driver IC is less than the temperature of another driver IC, the on-time adjustment unit 1080 of the driver IC increases the on-time adjustment value Δt, for example, by 0.5ns. The active thermal balance adjustment of each driver IC does not need to be performed according to the feedback temperature mechanism of the controller. In other words, each driver IC can adjust its on-time by itself without the need to feed back temperature information to the controller 910, and then adjust the on-time according to the PWM control signal adjusted by the controller 910. In one embodiment, the driver IC can automatically adjust the on-time periodically, for example, in each cycle of the PWM control signal, automatically adjust (increase, shorten or maintain) the on-time of the driver IC according to its temperature.

[0049] In one embodiment, the driving circuit 1000 further includes a current direction detection unit 1070, which is used to detect whether the temperature pin VTEMP of the driving IC flows out current to the temperature pin VTEMP of another coupled driving IC, or draws current from the temperature pin VTEMP of another coupled driving IC. When the temperature pin VTEMP of the driving IC flows out current to the temperature pin VTEMP of another driving IC, the on-time adjustment circuit 1080 of the driving IC reduces the on-time adjustment value Δt. When the temperature pin VTEMP of the driving IC draws current from the temperature pin VTEMP of another driving IC, the on-time adjustment circuit 1080 of the driving IC increases the on-time adjustment value Δt.

[0050] Fig.11 FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing a method 1100 for controlling a driving circuit according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Fig. 9 or Fig.10The method 1100 is performed by the driving circuit or driving IC shown in the figure. It should be understood that the various components of the driving circuit can also be used to perform the method 1100, and other circuit components can also be used to perform the method 1100. The method 1100 includes the following operations. In operation 1110, a PWM control signal is received. In operation 1120, a temperature indication signal is provided. In operation 1130, an on-time adjustment value is provided according to the temperature indication signal. In operation 1140, an adjusted PWM control signal is provided according to the PWM control signal and the on-time adjustment value to control the on or off of at least one switch. Wherein, the adjusted PWM control signal has a different on-time from the PWM control signal.

[0051] It should be understood that the above circuits and the structures of their components and the signal size waveforms are only for illustration purposes, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art can design circuits of different architectures and adjust the corresponding signal forms according to actual application requirements to complete the circuits of the present invention and achieve corresponding functions. For example, the circuit can be implemented using a digital circuit, an analog circuit, or software, or a combination of the above.

[0052] Although the present invention has been described with reference to several typical embodiments, it should be understood that the terms used are illustrative and exemplary, rather than restrictive. Since the present invention can be embodied in a variety of forms without departing from the spirit or essence of the invention, it should be understood that the above embodiments are not limited to any of the foregoing details, but should be interpreted broadly within the spirit and scope defined by the scope of the appended claims, so all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the claims or their equivalents should be covered by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A driving circuit, comprising: A first switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the first switch is used to receive an input voltage; a second switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the first switch, and the second end of the second switch is coupled to ground; A temperature sensing circuit, used for sensing a temperature indication signal; and A control circuit is used to receive a PWM control signal and the temperature indication signal, and provide an adjusted PWM control signal according to the PWM control signal and the temperature indication signal to control the on or off of the first switch and the second switch, wherein the adjusted PWM control signal and the PWM control signal have different on-times.

2. The driving circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving circuit is an integrated circuit, and the integrated circuit further includes: An input pin, used for receiving the input voltage; PWM pin, used for receiving the PWM control signal; A temperature pin, used to provide the temperature indication signal, wherein the temperature pin is used to couple to a corresponding temperature pin of another integrated circuit; and a switch pin, coupled to the second end of the first switch and the first end of the second switch; Wherein, the temperature sensing circuit is further used to determine whether the temperature pin of the integrated circuit draws current from the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit, or flows current to the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit; When the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the integrated circuit draws current from the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit, the control circuit adjusts the on-time of the PWM control signal to generate the adjusted PWM control signal.

3. The driving circuit according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit instructs the temperature pin of the integrated circuit to draw current from the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit, the temperature sensing circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than an upper limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than the upper limit value, the control circuit increases the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal by an adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not less than the upper limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal.

4. The driving circuit according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the integrated circuit flows current to the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit, the temperature sensing circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than a lower limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than the lower limit value, the control circuit reduces the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal by an adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not greater than the lower limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal, wherein the lower limit value is the same as the on-time of the PWM control signal.

5. The driving circuit according to claim 2, characterized in that: The PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the other integrated circuit is the same as the PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the integrated circuit; wherein, when the temperature of the integrated circuit is greater than the temperature of the other integrated circuit, the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal of the integrated circuit is less than the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal of the other integrated circuit.

6. The driving circuit according to claim 2, characterized in that: The PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the other integrated circuit is the same as the PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the integrated circuit; wherein, when the temperature of the integrated circuit is greater than the temperature of the other integrated circuit, the temperature pin of the integrated circuit flows current to the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit.

7. The driving circuit according to claim 2, characterized in that: The temperature pin of the integrated circuit is also used to couple to the temperature reporting pin of the controller; wherein, when the temperature pin of the integrated circuit receives a temperature reporting instruction from the temperature reporting pin of the controller, the control circuit determines whether the temperature reporting instruction includes an identification code corresponding to the integrated circuit; if the control circuit determines that the temperature reporting instruction includes the identification code of the integrated circuit, the temperature sensing circuit of the integrated circuit sends the temperature information corresponding to the integrated circuit to the temperature reporting pin of the controller through the temperature pin; and when the control circuit determines that the temperature reporting instruction includes the identification code of the integrated circuit, the adjusted PWM control signal is provided.

8. A multiphase voltage regulation circuit, comprising: A plurality of driving circuits, each of the driving circuits comprising an input pin, a PWM pin, a temperature pin and a switch pin, wherein the input pin is used to receive an input voltage, the PWM pin is used to receive a PWM control signal, the temperature pin is used to provide a temperature indication signal and the temperature pins of the plurality of driving circuits are coupled to each other, and the switch pin is used to provide an adjusted PWM control signal; and A controller, comprising a plurality of PWM control pins and a temperature reporting pin, wherein the plurality of PWM control pins are coupled to corresponding PWM pins of the plurality of drive circuits for providing corresponding PWM control signals; wherein the temperature reporting pins are coupled to temperature pins of the plurality of drive circuits for sending temperature reporting instructions to the plurality of drive circuits and receiving temperature information from the plurality of drive circuits; The adjusted PWM control signal of one of the plurality of driving circuits has a different on-time from the received PWM control signal.

9. The multi-phase voltage regulating circuit according to claim 8, characterized in that: Each of the driving circuits comprises: A first switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the first switch is used to receive the input voltage; a second switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the first switch, and the second end of the second switch is coupled to ground; a temperature sensing circuit, configured to sense the temperature indication signal; and A control circuit, configured to receive the PWM control signal and the temperature indication signal, and provide the adjusted PWM control signal according to the PWM control signal and the temperature indication signal; Wherein, the temperature sensing circuit is further used to determine whether the temperature pin of the driving circuit draws current from the temperature pin of another driving circuit among the multiple driving circuits or flows current to the temperature pin of the another driving circuit; When the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the driving circuit draws current from the temperature pin of the other driving circuit, the control circuit adjusts the on-time of the PWM control signal to generate the adjusted PWM control signal.

10. The multi-phase voltage regulating circuit according to claim 9, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit instructs the temperature pin of the drive circuit to draw current from the temperature pin of the other drive circuit, the temperature sensing circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than an upper limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than the upper limit value, the control circuit increases the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal by an adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not less than the upper limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal.

11. The multi-phase voltage regulating circuit according to claim 9, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the drive circuit flows current to the temperature pin of the other drive circuit, the temperature sensing circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than a lower limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than the lower limit value, the control circuit reduces the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal by an adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not greater than the lower limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal, wherein the lower limit value is the same as the on-time of the PWM control signal.

12. The multi-phase voltage regulating circuit according to claim 9, characterized in that: The PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the other drive circuit is the same as the PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the drive circuit; wherein, when the temperature of the drive circuit is greater than the temperature of the other drive circuit, the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal of the drive circuit is less than the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal of the other drive circuit.

13. The multi-phase voltage regulating circuit according to claim 9, characterized in that: The PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the other driving circuit is the same as the PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the driving circuit; wherein, when the temperature of the driving circuit is greater than the temperature of the other driving circuit, the temperature pin of the driving circuit flows current to the temperature pin of the other driving circuit.

14. The multi-phase voltage regulating circuit according to claim 9, characterized in that: When the temperature pin of the driving circuit receives the temperature reporting instruction from the temperature reporting pin of the controller, the control circuit determines whether the temperature reporting instruction includes an identification code corresponding to the driving circuit; if the control circuit determines that the temperature reporting instruction includes the identification code of the driving circuit, the temperature sensing circuit of the driving circuit sends the temperature information corresponding to the driving circuit to the temperature reporting pin of the controller through the temperature pin; and when the control circuit determines that the temperature reporting instruction includes the identification code of the driving circuit, the adjusted PWM control signal is provided.

15. A driving circuit comprising: Input pin, used to receive input voltage; PWM pin, used to receive PWM control signal; A temperature pin, used to provide a temperature indication signal, wherein the temperature pin is used to couple to a corresponding temperature pin of another driving circuit; Switch pin, used to provide adjusted PWM control signal; A first switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the first switch is used to receive the input voltage, and the second end of the first switch is coupled to the switch pin; a second switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the first switch and the switch pin, and the second end of the second switch is coupled to ground; a temperature sensing circuit, configured to sense the temperature indication signal; and A control circuit is used to receive the PWM control signal and the temperature indication signal, and control the on or off of the first switch and the second switch according to the PWM control signal and the temperature indication signal, wherein the adjusted PWM control signal and the PWM control signal have different on-times.

16. The driving circuit according to claim 15, characterized in that: The temperature sensing circuit is also used to determine whether the temperature pin of the drive circuit draws current from the temperature pin of the other drive circuit or flows current to the temperature pin of the other drive circuit; when the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the drive circuit draws current from the temperature pin of the other drive circuit, the control circuit adjusts the on-time of the PWM control signal to generate the adjusted PWM control signal.

17. The driving circuit according to claim 16, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit instructs the temperature pin of the drive circuit to draw current from the temperature pin of the other drive circuit, the temperature sensing circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than an upper limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than the upper limit value, the control circuit increases the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal by an adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not less than the upper limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal.

18. The driving circuit according to claim 16, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the drive circuit flows current to the temperature pin of the other drive circuit, the temperature sensing circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than a lower limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than the lower limit value, the control circuit reduces the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal by an adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not greater than the lower limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal, wherein the lower limit value is the same as the on-time of the PWM control signal.

19. The driving circuit according to claim 16, wherein: The PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the other drive circuit is the same as the PWM control signal received by the PWM pin of the drive circuit; wherein, when the temperature of the drive circuit is greater than the temperature of the other drive circuit, the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal of the drive circuit is less than the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal of the other drive circuit.

20. The driving circuit according to claim 16, characterized in that: The temperature pin of the driving circuit is also used to couple to the temperature reporting pin of the controller; wherein, when the temperature pin of the driving circuit receives a temperature reporting instruction from the temperature reporting pin of the controller, the control circuit determines whether the temperature reporting instruction includes an identification code corresponding to the driving circuit; if the control circuit determines that the temperature reporting instruction includes the identification code of the driving circuit, the temperature sensing circuit of the driving circuit sends the temperature information corresponding to the driving circuit to the temperature reporting pin of the controller through the temperature pin; and when the control circuit determines that the temperature reporting instruction includes the identification code of the driving circuit, the adjusted PWM control signal is provided.

21. A driving circuit, comprising: A first switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the first switch is used to receive an input voltage; a second switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the first switch, and the second end of the second switch is coupled to ground; A temperature sensing circuit, used for sensing a temperature indication signal; a conduction time adjustment circuit, configured to provide a conduction time adjustment value according to the temperature indication signal; and A control circuit is used to receive a PWM control signal and the on-time adjustment value, and provide an adjusted PWM control signal according to the PWM control signal and the on-time adjustment value to control the on or off of the first switch and the second switch, wherein the adjusted PWM control signal has a different on-time from the PWM control signal.

22. The driving circuit according to claim 21, characterized in that: The driving circuit is an integrated circuit, and the integrated circuit further includes: An input pin, used for receiving the input voltage; PWM pin, used for receiving the PWM control signal; A temperature pin, used to provide the temperature indication signal, wherein the temperature pin is used to couple to a corresponding temperature pin of another integrated circuit; and a switch pin, coupled to the second end of the first switch and the first end of the second switch; Wherein, the temperature sensing circuit is further used to determine whether the temperature pin of the integrated circuit draws current from the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit, or flows current to the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit; When the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the integrated circuit draws current from the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit, the control circuit adjusts the on-time of the PWM control signal to generate the adjusted PWM control signal.

23. The driving circuit according to claim 22, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit instructs the temperature pin of the integrated circuit to draw current from the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit, the on-time adjustment circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than an upper limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than the upper limit value, the on-time adjustment circuit increases the on-time adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not less than the upper limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal.

24. The driving circuit according to claim 22, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the integrated circuit flows current to the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit, the on-time adjustment circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than a lower limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than the lower limit value, the on-time adjustment circuit reduces the on-time adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not greater than the lower limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal, wherein the lower limit value is the same as the on-time of the PWM control signal.

25. The driving circuit according to claim 22, characterized in that: When the temperature of the integrated circuit is greater than the temperature of the other integrated circuit, the on-time adjustment circuit of the integrated circuit decreases the on-time adjustment value.

26. The driving circuit according to claim 22, characterized in that: When the temperature of the integrated circuit is lower than the temperature of the other integrated circuit, the on-time adjustment circuit of the integrated circuit increases the on-time adjustment value.

27. The driving circuit according to claim 22, characterized in that: When the temperature of the integrated circuit is greater than the temperature of another integrated circuit, the temperature pin of the integrated circuit flows current to the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit.

28. The driving circuit according to claim 22, characterized in that: When the temperature pin of the integrated circuit flows current to the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit, the on-time adjustment circuit of the integrated circuit reduces the on-time adjustment value.

29. The driving circuit according to claim 22, characterized in that: The on-time adjustment circuit of the integrated circuit increases the on-time adjustment value when the temperature pin of the integrated circuit draws current from the temperature pin of the other integrated circuit.

30. The driving circuit according to claim 22, characterized in that: Also includes: a current direction detection unit, used to detect a current flowing out of the temperature pin of the integrated circuit, or a current drawn from the temperature pin of the integrated circuit; When current flows out of the temperature pin of the integrated circuit, the on-time adjustment circuit reduces the on-time adjustment value.

31. The driving circuit according to claim 22, characterized in that: Also includes: a current direction detection unit, used to detect a current flowing out of the temperature pin of the integrated circuit, or a current drawn from the temperature pin of the integrated circuit; When the temperature pin of the integrated circuit draws current, the on-time adjustment circuit increases the on-time adjustment value.

32. A multi-phase voltage regulation circuit, comprising: A plurality of driving circuits, each of the plurality of driving circuits comprises an input pin, a PWM pin, a temperature pin and a switch pin, wherein the input pin is used to receive an input voltage, the PWM pin is used to receive a PWM control signal, the temperature pin is used to provide a temperature indication signal and the temperature pins of the plurality of driving circuits are coupled to each other, and the switch pin is used to provide an adjusted PWM control signal; and A controller, comprising a plurality of PWM control pins, wherein the plurality of PWM control pins are coupled to corresponding PWM pins in the plurality of driving circuits, and are used to provide corresponding PWM control signals; The adjusted PWM control signal of one of the plurality of driving circuits has a different on-time from the received PWM control signal.

33. The multi-phase voltage regulating circuit according to claim 32, characterized in that: Each of the driving circuits comprises: A first switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the first switch is used to receive the input voltage; a second switch having a first end, a second end and a control end, wherein the first end of the second switch is coupled to the second end of the first switch, and the second end of the second switch is coupled to ground; A temperature sensing circuit, used for sensing the temperature indication signal; a conduction time adjustment circuit, configured to provide a conduction time adjustment value according to the temperature indication signal; and a control circuit, configured to receive a PWM control signal and the on-time adjustment value, and provide an adjusted PWM control signal according to the PWM control signal and the on-time adjustment value to control the on or off of the first switch and the second switch, wherein the adjusted PWM control signal has a different on-time from the PWM control signal; Wherein, the temperature sensing circuit is further used to determine whether the temperature pin of the driving circuit draws current from the temperature pin of another driving circuit among the multiple driving circuits, or flows current to the temperature pin of the another driving circuit; When the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the driving circuit draws current from the temperature pin of the other driving circuit, the control circuit adjusts the on-time of the PWM control signal to generate the adjusted PWM control signal.

34. The multi-phase voltage regulating circuit according to claim 33, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit instructs the temperature pin of the drive circuit to draw current from the temperature pin of the other drive circuit, the on-time adjustment circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than an upper limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is less than the upper limit value, the on-time adjustment circuit increases the on-time adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not less than the upper limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal.

35. The multi-phase voltage regulating circuit according to claim 33, characterized in that: When the temperature sensing circuit indicates that the temperature pin of the drive circuit flows current to the temperature pin of the other drive circuit, the on-time adjustment circuit is also used to determine whether the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than a lower limit value; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is greater than the lower limit value, the on-time adjustment circuit reduces the on-time adjustment value to generate the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal; if the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal is not greater than the lower limit value, the control circuit maintains the on-time of the adjusted PWM control signal, wherein the lower limit value is the same as the on-time of the PWM control signal.

Images