Shared-Circuit Multi-Voltage PMIC for Smaller PA Power Supply
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity of mobile communication devices requires higher data rates, leading to a need for multiple supply voltages for power amplifiers, which results in a larger footprint for power management integrated circuits (PMICs) due to the use of multiple DC-DC converters, making it difficult to fit them into miniaturized devices like smartphones.
Innovation Solution
A multi-voltage PMIC that shares a single voltage-current modulation circuit among multiple voltage modulation circuits, allowing concurrent support of multiple load circuits with a reduced footprint by generating modulated voltages based on a battery voltage and reference voltages, using non-overlapping charge intervals and a control circuit to manage the sharing of reference voltages and currents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If multiple DC-DC converters are used to generate multiple supply voltages for power amplifiers, then the PMIC can provide sufficient energy per bit for higher data rates, but the footprint of the PMIC increases, making it difficult to fit into miniaturized devices
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple DC-DC converter functions into a single shared voltage-current modulation circuit. This single circuit generates multiple reference voltages and currents that are then distributed to multiple voltage modulation circuits, eliminating the need for separate DC-DC converters for each power amplifier and significantly reducing the PMIC footprint
Solution Approach 2:
The shared voltage-current modulation circuit is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously, generating reference voltages and currents for multiple different power amplifiers. This universal circuit replaces what would traditionally require multiple dedicated DC-DC converters, achieving space reduction while maintaining full functionality
2Area of stationary object
If a single voltage-current modulation circuit is shared among multiple voltage modulation circuits, then the PMIC footprint is reduced, but the circuit must manage multiple reference voltages and currents concurrently
Solution Approach 1:
The control circuit implements periodic time-division multiplexing, sequentially enabling each voltage modulation circuit during specific time intervals. This periodic switching allows the single shared voltage-current modulation circuit to serve multiple circuits without interference, managing complexity through structured temporal separation
Solution Approach 2:
The control circuit dynamically switches the connection between the shared voltage-current modulation circuit and different voltage modulation circuits based on operational requirements. This dynamic switching capability allows flexible allocation of resources while maintaining simplicity in the overall architecture
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-voltage power management integrated circuit (PMIC) is disclosed. More specifically, the multi-voltage generation circuit includes multiple voltage modulation circuits each configured to generate and maintain a respective one of multiple modulated voltages based on a battery voltage and a respective one of multiple reference voltages. Contrary to using multiple voltage-current modulation circuits, such as direct-current-direct-current (DC-DC) converters, to generate the multiple reference voltages, the multi-voltage PMIC is configured to share a single voltage-current modulation circuit among the multiple voltage modulation circuits. As such, the multi-voltage PMIC can concurrently support multiple load circuits (e.g., power amplifier circuits) with a significantly reduced footprint.