Digital Linear Voltage Regulator Without Dynamic Biasing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Digital Linear Voltage Regulators (DLVRs) face challenges in maintaining stability due to variations in input voltage, leading to changes in drain-to-source resistance and loop gain, which can result in unstable behavior and increased power efficiency degradation when dynamic biasing is employed.
Innovation Solution
The solution modulates the effective driving strength of switchable FETs to compensate for changes in gate-to-source voltage, eliminating the need for dynamic biasing and reducing static losses, while maintaining regulation loop stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If dynamic biasing is employed to compensate for input voltage variations, then stability is improved, but power efficiency degradation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the biasing parameter from dynamic to static/fixed, eliminating the need for dynamic adjustment while maintaining stability through proper circuit design. This resolves the contradiction by achieving stability without the energy losses associated with dynamic biasing circuits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent removes the dynamic biasing circuitry entirely from the design, extracting the problematic element that caused power efficiency degradation while maintaining stability through alternative design approaches in the error amplifier and feedback network.
2Reliability
If dynamic biasing is used to maintain stability, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the dynamic biasing circuitry from the voltage regulator design, simplifying the overall device while maintaining stability through proper design of the remaining components such as the error amplifier and feedback network.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the biasing function into the static design of the error amplifier and feedback network, eliminating the need for separate dynamic biasing circuits and reducing overall device complexity while maintaining stability.
3Reliability
If dynamic biasing is implemented to compensate for resistance changes, then stability is improved, but silicon area increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the dynamic biasing circuitry that occupied significant silicon area, reducing the overall chip area while maintaining stability through alternative design approaches in the error amplifier and feedback network.
Data Source
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AI summary
Embodiments herein relate to a Digital Linear Voltage Regulator (DLVR). The DLVR includes a set of power links which each includes many columns of power transistors. The columns can be turned on or off individually based on digital data from a main control circuit. Additionally, individual power links can be turned on or off based on monitoring of a dropout voltage of the set of power links and a drain-to-source resistance, Rds_on, of replica columns. An input voltage may be monitored as an alternative. The monitoring compensates for changes in Rds_on due to changes in an input voltage, Vin, which could otherwise result in unstable behavior. The DLVR can avoid the complexity and power losses of dynamic biasing of the control gate voltages of the transistors.