Switching Power Supply Voltage Correction via Microcontroller
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing switching power supply apparatuses require additional components and increased size to measure and correct voltage values across switching elements, as they lack a measurement terminal within the circuit for direct voltage detection and correction.
Innovation Solution
A switching power supply apparatus with a converter, semiconductor devices, voltage detection circuits, a sampling circuit, and a communication interface that calculates and corrects voltage measurement values using coefficients, eliminating the need for a direct measurement terminal by leveraging similar detection circuits and reference voltages to minimize errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a measurement terminal is added to directly measure voltage across a switching element, then voltage measurement accuracy is improved, but the number of components increases and the apparatus size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary approach by using existing detection terminals and calculating the voltage across the switching element through voltage difference calculation rather than direct measurement. The microcontroller computes the switching element voltage by subtracting the voltage at one end from the voltage at the other end, both measured through existing detection circuits, thereby avoiding the need for additional measurement terminals while maintaining measurement accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The existing detection circuits and terminals in the power supply apparatus are made to serve dual purposes: both for monitoring the overall circuit operation and for measuring the voltage across the switching element. The system uses its own existing measurement infrastructure to achieve the measurement function that would otherwise require dedicated additional terminals.
2Measurement precision
If detection circuits with high precision are used to measure voltage, then measurement accuracy is improved, but the circuit complexity and component count increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses existing detection circuits that are already present in the apparatus to copy or replicate the measurement function needed for the switching element voltage. Rather than designing specialized high-precision detection circuits, the system leverages the existing detection infrastructure to obtain the necessary voltage data through computational processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The approach transforms the measurement problem from a direct voltage measurement task to a computational parameter processing task. By changing from direct physical measurement to mathematical calculation based on existing voltage parameters, the system achieves the same measurement objective without requiring additional precision components.
Data Source
AI summary
A switching power supply apparatus includes a step-down converter that steps down an input current by turning on/off switching elements, a switching element electrically connected between the step-down converter and voltage outputs, and a microcontroller. An input-side resistor voltage dividing circuit and an output-side resistor voltage dividing circuit including elements with the same or similar specifications are electrically connected to the input and output of the switching element, respectively. The microcontroller stores coefficients of an expression which have been externally calculated according to a voltage detected by the output-side resistor voltage dividing circuit and a voltage detected at the voltage output portions. The microcontroller corrects a measurement value of an intermediate bus voltage detected by the input-side resistor voltage dividing circuit according to an expression and the stored coefficients.