Polyphase source power supply unit and circuit

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a polyphase source power supply unit and a circuit. The polyphase source power supply unit comprises: a signal modulation module, a phase expansion module and an interface module which are arranged on a load board. The signal modulation module, the phase expansion module and the interface module are arranged in multiple layers on the load board. The signal modulation module is electrically connected to the phase expansion module. The signal modulation module and the phase expansion module are electrically connected to the load board by means of the interface module.

Description

Multiphase power supply unit and circuit

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202311127502.6 filed on August 31, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of circuit design, and in particular to a multi-phase power supply unit and circuit. Background Art

[0004] Multiphase power supplies, compared to related DC-DC (direct current-to-direct current) and LDO (low-dropout linear regulator) power supplies, offer advantages such as improved thermal performance and efficiency at high load currents, as well as improved overshoot and undershoot during load transients. As ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) performance continues to improve, along with increasing power consumption and AC (alternating current) requirements, they are becoming the preferred solution for onboard low-voltage, high-current power supplies. With the growing popularity of AI (artificial intelligence) and the exponential increase in computing power requirements, ASIC performance is also rapidly improving. Consequently, the current of a single onboard load has increased from hundreds of amperes to thousands of amperes, and the number of phases in multiphase power supplies has grown rapidly, from 2 to 8 to over 24.

[0005] Public content

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a multi-phase power supply unit, comprising: a signal modulation module, a phase expansion module, and an interface module arranged on a load board; the signal modulation module, the phase expansion module, and the interface module are arranged in multiple layers on the load board; the signal modulation module and the phase expansion module are electrically connected; and the signal modulation module and the phase expansion module are both electrically connected to the load board via the interface module.

[0007] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a circuit, comprising the multi-phase power supply unit. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] In the drawings accompanying this disclosure:

[0009] FIG1 is a block diagram of a multi-phase power supply unit provided by the present disclosure;

[0010] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the layout of each module in the multi-phase power supply unit provided by the present disclosure;

[0011] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the layout of a multi-phase power supply unit including a signal connection module provided by the present disclosure;

[0012] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a four-phase power supply unit provided by the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG5 is a block diagram of the circuit provided by the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the present disclosure, the multi-phase power supply unit and circuit provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0015] The present disclosure will be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the embodiments shown may be embodied in different forms, and the present disclosure should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth below. These embodiments are provided to make the present disclosure more thorough and complete and to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the scope of the present disclosure.

[0016] The accompanying drawings of the present disclosure are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the detailed embodiments, they are used to explain the present disclosure and do not constitute a limitation of the present disclosure. By describing the detailed embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, the above and other features and advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0017] The present disclosure may be described with reference to plan views and / or cross-sectional views by way of ideal schematic views of the present disclosure. Therefore, the exemplary illustrations may be modified according to manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances.

[0018] In the absence of conflict, the various embodiments of the present disclosure and the various features therein may be combined with each other.

[0019] The terms used in this disclosure are only used to describe specific embodiments and do not limit the disclosure. As used in this disclosure, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more related enumerated items. As used in this disclosure, the singular forms "a" and "the" are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used in this disclosure, the terms "comprising" and "made of" specify the presence of specific features, wholes, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, wholes, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof.

[0020] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in this disclosure have the same meanings as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art. It will also be understood that terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and this disclosure, and will not be interpreted as having an idealized or overly formal meaning unless expressly defined in this disclosure.

[0021] The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, but includes modifications of the configurations formed based on the manufacturing process. Therefore, the regions illustrated in the drawings have schematic properties, and the shapes of the regions shown in the drawings illustrate the specific shapes of the regions of the elements, but are not restrictive.

[0022] Multiphase power supplies, compared to related DC-DC (direct current-to-direct current) and LDO (low dropout regulator) power supplies, offer advantages such as improved thermal performance and efficiency at high load currents, as well as improved overshoot and undershoot during load transients. As ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) performance continues to improve, along with increasing power consumption and AC (alternating current) requirements, they are becoming the preferred solution for onboard low-voltage, high-current power supplies. With the growing popularity of AI (artificial intelligence) and the exponential increase in computing power requirements, ASIC performance is also rapidly improving. Consequently, the current required for a single onboard load has increased from hundreds of amperes a few years ago to thousands of amperes. The number of phases in multiphase power supplies has also increased rapidly, from 2 to 8 to over 24. This results in a significant board footprint for multiphase power supplies, severely limiting the space available for other circuits.

[0023] Furthermore, as the number of phases in a multiphase power supply increases, the complexity of the board increases significantly, posing challenges to both debugging and production. Power supply modularization is an effective means of reducing the difficulty of board debugging and processing, and there is also an urgent need for power supply modularization from a production and maintenance perspective. Reducing circuit size and achieving modularization have become increasingly pressing issues, both in board design and in processing and maintenance.

[0024] The present disclosure provides a modular, multi-layered multi-phase power supply unit that can be used in low-voltage, high-current scenarios, effectively reducing the board area occupied by the multi-phase power supply unit and improving the manufacturability and maintainability of a single board. The solution provided by the present disclosure is highly versatile and suitable for multi-phase power supply units with a variety of phases. By modularizing and integrating the circuits within the unit and vertically arranging the phase expansion modules, the board area occupied by the entire circuit on the load board is greatly reduced. The solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure is introduced in detail below.

[0025] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a multi-phase power supply unit A, as shown in FIG1 , comprising: a signal modulation module 1, a phase expansion module 2, and an interface module 3, all disposed on a load board Pb; the signal modulation module 1, the phase expansion module 2, and the interface module 3 are disposed in multiple layers on the load board Pb; the signal modulation module 1 and the phase expansion module 2 are electrically connected; and both the signal modulation module 1 and the phase expansion module 2 are electrically connected to the load board Pb via the interface module 3.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, at least one of a load and a load circuit is provided on the load board, and the multi-phase power supply unit A provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure can supply power to at least one of the load and the load circuit, providing load power.

[0027] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the signal modulation module 1, the phase expansion module 2, and the interface module 3 are arranged in a superimposed manner, which changes the layout method of the related integrated circuit in which the circuit elements are only arranged in the direction extending along the load board plane, fully utilizes the space around the load board Pb, and avoids occupying a large amount of single board area; and in the embodiment of the present disclosure, a large number of circuit elements on the single board are modularized according to their functions. For example, the circuit elements for generating modulated signals are classified as the signal modulation module 1, the circuit elements for generating multi-phase power supply signals are classified as the phase expansion module 2, and the various interfaces for data interaction are classified as the interface module 3. Through the modular arrangement, the difficulty of single board processing and debugging is reduced, which is more conducive to assembly line production and later maintenance.

[0028] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of stacked layers of modules can be set accordingly according to the number and functions of the modules included, and the specific number of layers is not limited here.

[0029] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the signal modulation module 1 , the phase expansion module 2 and the interface module 3 can be provided in two layers or three layers on the load board Pb. Here, an implementation scheme of providing three layers is given.

[0030] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG1 , the multi-layer configuration may include a three-layer configuration; the three-layer configuration includes: a first layer, a second layer, and a third layer; the distances between the first layer, the second layer, and the third layer and the load board decrease successively; the first layer includes a first PCB P1, the second layer includes a second PCB P2, and the third layer includes a third PCB P3; the signal modulation module 1 is disposed on the first PCB P1; the phase expansion module 2 is disposed on the second PCB P2; and the interface module 3 is disposed on the third PCB P3.

[0031] In some embodiments, in a multi-layer arrangement, the PCB board of each layer may be arranged parallel to the load board Pb, or may be arranged perpendicular to the load board Pb, or a combination of the two. The detailed arrangement is not limited here.

[0032] In some embodiments, the first PCB P1 and the third PCB P3 may be arranged to be parallel to the load board Pb; and the second PCB P2 may be arranged to be perpendicular to the load board Pb.

[0033] In some embodiments, since the phase expansion module 2 is provided on the second PCB P2, when the phase expansion module 2 includes a multi-phase power generation circuit 21 (for example, 21-1, 21-2, 21-3, ..., 21-n, etc., where n is a positive integer), each phase power generation circuit can be respectively provided on a second PCB P2 (for example, P2-1, P2-2, P2-3, ..., P2-n, etc.). In this case, there are multiple second PCBs P2. If each second PCB P2 is provided parallel to the load board Pb, it will also occupy a large area. Therefore, in order to save space, the multiple second PCBs P2 can be provided perpendicular to the load board Pb, as shown in FIG. 2 .

[0034] In some embodiments, a multi-phase power supply circuit can be integrated by stacking three layers of PCBs, namely, the upper, middle, and lower layers. Among the three layers of PCBs, the upper PCB (such as the first PCB P1) and the lower PCB (such as the third PCB P3) can be parallel to the load board Pb, and the middle layer (such as the second PCB P2) can be perpendicular to the load board Pb. For the load board Pb, the signal modulation module 1, the phase expansion module 2, and the interface module 3 can fully realize the multi-phase power supply circuit function of the flat integration on the load board Pb in the related art.

[0035] In this disclosure, the term "parallel" refers only to the fact that the two PCBs extend in roughly the same direction. This does not strictly require them to be exactly the same. A certain degree of deviation is permitted within a predetermined first angle threshold. Similarly, the term "perpendicular" refers only to the fact that the two PCBs extend in roughly perpendicular directions. This does not strictly require them to be perfectly perpendicular. A certain degree of deviation is permitted within a predetermined second angle threshold.

[0036] In some embodiments, the signal modulation module 1 may include but is not limited to: a signal modulation chip and peripheral circuits of the signal modulation chip.

[0037] In some embodiments, the signal modulation chip can be configured to generate a modulation signal.

[0038] In some embodiments, the signal modulation chip may include but is not limited to: a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) chip.

[0039] In some embodiments, the phase expansion module 2 may include a multi-phase power generation circuit 21 ; each phase power generation circuit 21 may include, but is not limited to, interconnected power switches and inductors.

[0040] In some embodiments, each phase power generation circuit 21 may further include: a peripheral circuit of a power switch and an inductor.

[0041] In some embodiments, the power switch may include but is not limited to: MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor).

[0042] In some embodiments, the power switch can be configured to be connected to a signal modulation chip, operate according to a modulation signal (for example, including but not limited to a PWM signal), generate a power signal (i.e., a load power supply), and reply a feedback signal to the signal modulation chip, and is also configured to obtain the first power supply provided by the load board Pb through the interface module 3.

[0043] In some embodiments, the interactive signals between the power switch and the signal modulation chip may include, but are not limited to, modulation signals and feedback signals, and may also include some other necessary signals.

[0044] In some embodiments, the inductor can be configured to output a power signal generated by a corresponding power switch (i.e., a power switch located on the same second PCB P2 as the inductor and belonging to the same phase power generation circuit), and transmit the power signal to the load board Pb through the interface module 3.

[0045] In some embodiments, the interface module 3 can be configured to provide an interface for the signal modulation module 1 and the phase expansion module 2 to exchange information with the load board Pb, and before transmitting the signal provided by the load board Pb to the signal modulation module 1 or the phase expansion module 2, it can distinguish whether the signal provided by the load board Pb belongs to the signal modulation module 1 or the phase expansion module 2, so that the distinguished signal can be transmitted to the corresponding module.

[0046] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 3, the multi-phase power supply unit may further include: a signal connection module 4; the signal connection module 4 may be configured to electrically connect the signal modulation module 1 and the interface module 3; the signal connection module 4 is configured to transmit the second power supply and control signal provided by the load board Pb to the signal modulation module 1.

[0047] In some embodiments, the second power supply may include, but is not limited to, a 12V power supply.

[0048] The signal transmitted by the signal connection module 4 to the signal modulation module 1 may include but is not limited to a control signal, and may also include necessary signals such as a timing signal and a bus signal, for example, an I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) bus signal.

[0049] In some embodiments, the signal connection module 4 may include a plurality of connection lines, including but not limited to power lines, signal lines, etc. The connection lines may include but not limited to at least one of real wires and traces on a PCB board.

[0050] In some embodiments, the second layer may further include: a fourth PCB P4;

[0051] The signal connection module 4 may be disposed on the fourth PCB P4.

[0052] In some embodiments, circuit components may not be placed on the fourth PCB P4. One end of the signal connection module 4 can be connected to the signal modulation module 1 to provide the power required for the signal modulation chip to operate, as well as other necessary signal interactions with the load board Pb; the other end of the signal connection module 4 can be connected to the interface module 3, so that the relevant power supply and signals connected to the signal modulation module 1 are directly bridged to the interface module 3.

[0053] In some embodiments, to save space, the fourth PCB P4 may be perpendicular to the load board Pb.

[0054] In some embodiments, one end of the interface module 3 may be connected to the signal connection module 4 and the plurality of phase expansion modules 2 , and the other end may be connected to the load board Pb.

[0055] In some embodiments, the interface module 3 distributes and transmits interface signals between the load board Pb and the multiphase power generation circuit of the phase expansion module 2 to other modules. For example, the interface module 3 transmits power and related signals required by the signal modulation chip to the signal connection module 4, transmits operating power to the power switch of the phase expansion module 2, and transmits output power to the inductor of the phase expansion module 2.

[0056] In some embodiments, the load board Pb supplies power to the signal modulation module 1 and the phase expansion module 2 through the interface module 3 and the signal connection module 4, and uses control signals to control and monitor the signal modulation chip. The signal modulation module 1 and the phase expansion module 2 are directly connected to form a typical multi-phase power supply circuit. For example, through the PWM signal, the MOSFET tube and inductor on the phase expansion module 2 are controlled to operate, and power is output to the interface module 3. The interface module 3 converts the necessary interactive signals between the entire multi-phase power supply circuit (signal modulation module 1 and phase expansion module 2) and the load board Pb into a packaging form that matches the load board Pb, thereby realizing connection and exchange of signals with the load board Pb.

[0057] An example of a multi-phase power supply unit disclosed herein is given below.

[0058] Example 1

[0059] As shown in Figure 4, this example includes a PWM module 1 (including a PWM chip), a phase expansion module 2 (including four-phase power generation circuits, namely 21-1, 21-2, 21-3, and 21-4), an interface module 3, and a signal connection module 4. It is a four-phase power supply circuit, and each phase power generation circuit includes at least one MOSFET (for example, M1, M2, M3, and M4) and at least one inductor (for example, L1, L2, L3, and L4).

[0060] The entire multi-phase power supply circuit (the four power generation circuits in the PWM module 1 and the phase expansion module 2) and the load board Pb are connected through the BGA (Ball Grid Array) package pads of the interface module 3. The signal connection module 4 and the phase expansion module 2 are connected to the PWM module 1 (i.e., the signal modulation module) and the interface module 3 through welding or socket connection.

[0061] The input signals of the load board Pb to the multi-phase power supply circuit (the four power generation circuits in the PWM module 1 and the phase expansion module 2) mainly include: the PWM module power supply (for example, the 12V input power supply and 3.3V working power supply required by the PWM chip), the 3.3V power supply required by the MOSFET tube on the phase expansion module 2, the I2C signal and other control signals for the interaction between the control circuit on the load board Pb and the PWM chip.

[0062] The 12V power supply, 3.3V power supply, I2C signal and control signal required by the PWM chip are transmitted to the PWM chip through the signal connection module 4 between the interface module 3 and the signal modulation module 1 (i.e., PWM module 1). The power part transmitted by the signal connection module 4 mainly uses large copper foil or copper blocks to ensure the integrity of the power signal. Other I2C signals and control signals can use conventional PCB routing.

[0063] The phase expansion module 2 receives the PWM signal from the PWM chip and the 3.3V power supply from the interface module 3, ultimately realizing the function of multi-phase power supply (four-phase power supply) output. The output power is the load power supply, such as the load current. The load current is aggregated from the four-phase power supply generation circuit to the interface module 3. Because the loads on the load board Pb are all low-voltage and high-current, the interface module 3 can ensure the integrity of the power supply signal by using multiple layers of thick copper or an integral copper block.

[0064] In the multi-phase power supply unit provided by the present disclosure, placing the phase expansion module 2 vertically can effectively reduce the board area, rationally utilize the space around the load circuit board (for example, the space in the height direction), solve the problem of large board area and high complexity of the related multi-phase power supply circuit, significantly improve the integration of the single board, and the solution is simple to implement and highly scalable. The entire unit is designed as an independent module, which can realize the independent production and testing of the multi-phase power supply unit and its various modules, improve the pass rate of single board production and debugging, and can also directly replace the entire unit or a module during fault maintenance, reducing the difficulty of operation and reducing the difficulty of problem location.

[0065] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a circuit B, as shown in FIG5 , including the multi-phase power supply unit A.

[0066] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or some of the functional modules / units disclosed above may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, or a suitable combination thereof.

[0067] In hardware implementations, the division between functional modules / units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, one physical component may have multiple functions, or one function or step may be performed by several physical components in cooperation.

[0068] Some or all of the physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor (such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor, or a microprocessor), or as hardware, or as an integrated circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on a computer-readable medium, which may include computer storage media (or non-transitory media) and communication media (or temporary media). As is well known to those skilled in the art, the term computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storing information (such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data). Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM, more specifically SDRAM, DDR, etc.), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory (FLASH) or other disk storage; compact disc (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical disc storage; magnetic cassettes, tapes, disk storage or other magnetic storage; any other medium that can be used to store desired information and can be accessed by a computer. Furthermore, as is well known to those skilled in the art, communication media typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and may include any information delivery media.

[0069] The present disclosure has disclosed example embodiments, and although specific terms are employed, they are used and should be interpreted only in a general illustrative sense and not for purposes of limitation. In some instances, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, unless otherwise expressly stated, features, characteristics, and / or elements described in conjunction with a particular embodiment may be used alone or in combination with features, characteristics, and / or elements described in conjunction with other embodiments. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multi-phase power supply unit, comprising: A signal modulation module, a phase expansion module and an interface module are arranged on the load board; The signal modulation module, the phase expansion module and the interface module are arranged in multiple layers on the load board; The signal modulation module is electrically connected to the phase expansion module; The signal modulation module and the phase expansion module are both electrically connected to the load board through the interface module.

2. The multi-phase power supply unit according to claim 1, wherein: The multi-layer arrangement includes a three-layer arrangement; the three-layer arrangement includes: a first layer, a second layer and a third layer; the distances between the first layer, the second layer and the third layer and the load board decrease in sequence; the first layer includes a first PCB, the second layer includes a second PCB, and the third layer includes a third PCB; Wherein, the signal modulation module is arranged on the first PCB; The phase expansion module is arranged on the second PCB; The interface module is arranged on the third PCB.

3. The multi-phase power supply unit according to claim 2, wherein: The first PCB and the third PCB are parallel to the load board; The second PCB is perpendicular to the load board.

4. The multi-phase power supply unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The multi-phase power supply unit meets at least one of the following conditions: The signal modulation module comprises: a signal modulation chip and a peripheral circuit of the signal modulation chip; the signal modulation chip is configured to generate a modulation signal; and, The interface module is configured to provide an interface for the signal modulation module and the phase expansion module to interact with the load board, and to transmit the signal provided by the load board to the load board. Before being input to the signal modulation module or the phase expansion module, it is distinguished whether the signal provided by the load board belongs to the signal modulation module or the phase expansion module.

5. The multi-phase power supply unit according to claim 4, wherein: The phase expansion module includes a multi-phase power generation circuit; Each phase power generation circuit includes: a power switch and an inductor connected to each other; The power switch is configured to be connected to the signal modulation chip, to work according to the modulation signal, to generate a power signal, and to reply a feedback signal to the signal modulation chip, and is also configured to obtain the first power provided by the load board through the interface module; The inductor is configured to output the power signal generated by the corresponding power switch, and transmit the power signal to the load board through the interface module.

6. The multi-phase power supply unit according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: The phase expansion module includes a multi-phase power generation circuit; each phase power generation circuit is respectively arranged on a second PCB.

7. The multi-phase power supply unit according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising: Signal connection module; the signal connection module is configured to electrically connect the signal modulation module and the interface module; The signal connection module is configured to transmit the second power supply and the control signal provided by the load board to the signal modulation module.

8. The multi-phase power supply unit according to claim 7, wherein: The second layer further includes: a fourth PCB; The signal connection module is disposed on the fourth PCB.

9. The multi-phase power supply unit according to claim 8, wherein: The fourth PCB is perpendicular to the load board.

10. A circuit comprising the multi-phase power supply unit according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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