Phase-Doubling PWM Power Supply for Lower Ripple and Board Area
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional power supply systems face challenges in efficiently managing high power consumption for chips like CPUs and GPUs, with phase doubling and parallel power supply designs either increasing area occupation or output ripples and temperature.
Innovation Solution
A power supply phase doubling system that includes a PWM controller and two phase doubling chips, which operate in master and slave modes based on voltage levels, eliminating the need for a phase doubler and allowing asynchronous switching of phases to reduce ripple and area occupation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If phase doubling power supply design is used to increase the number of phases, then power supply phases can be increased, but an additional phase doubler is required which increases the occupied area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the phase doubling function directly into the driver chip, combining multiple functions (PWM control, phase doubling, and driver functionality) into a single integrated component. This eliminates the need for a separate phase doubler circuit, thereby increasing the number of power supply phases without increasing the occupied area on the motherboard.
Solution Approach 2:
The driver chip is designed to perform multiple functions: it acts as both the PWM controller and the phase doubler, and also serves as the power supply driver. This multi-functional design allows the system to achieve phase doubling without adding extra components, thus increasing versatility while maintaining compact area occupation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If parallel power supply design is used to increase the number of phases, then power supply phases can be increased, but the two sets of power supply phases operate synchronously which increases output ripples and input ripple current
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements asynchronous switching between multiple power supply phases using periodic action. The driver chip generates PWM signals with different duty cycles for different phases, causing them to switch on and off at different times within each cycle. This periodic asynchronous switching reduces the superposition of ripple currents, thereby decreasing output ripples and input ripple current while maintaining multiple power supply phases.
3Adaptability or versatility
If parallel power supply design is used to increase the number of phases, then power supply phases can be increased, but the number of elements increases which increases temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple power supply phase control functions into a single driver chip, reducing the total number of discrete elements and components. By integrating the phase doubling functionality within the driver chip itself, the system achieves multiple power supply phases without proportionally increasing the number of elements, thereby reducing heat generation and operating temperature.
Data Source
AI summary
A power supply phase doubling system includes a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller and first and second phase doubling chips. The PWM controller outputs a PWM signal. The first phase doubling chip is operated at a power supply voltage and has a first PWM output pin to generate a first control signal and a second control signal according to the PWM signal, and generates a first output signal according to the first control signal. The second phase doubling chip is operated at the power supply voltage, has a second PWM output pin, and is configured to generate a second output signal according to the second control signal. The first and second phase doubling chips are respectively switched between a master mode and a slave mode according to a voltage level of the first PWM output pin and a voltage level of the second PWM output pin.