Isolated Switched-Mode Power Supply Transformer Relayed Signal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing switched-mode power supplies with mains isolation face inefficiencies and increased costs due to the use of opto-couplers for communicating control information across the transformer, which require significant power consumption and additional circuitry, making them costly and inefficient, especially in low-power applications.
Innovation Solution
A switched-mode power supply design that uses a transformer with a transmitter to generate a transformer relayed signal by adjusting the voltage across the secondary winding during ringing times, allowing for bidirectional communication of control information across the transformer without the need for opto-couplers, utilizing a communication current source or secondary side switch to encode and decode information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If opto-couplers are used to communicate control information across the transformer, then reliable isolation is maintained, but power consumption increases and component costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the opto-coupler component from the traditional isolated power supply design. By removing this component, the patent achieves significant reduction in power consumption (eliminating the bias current requirement of opto-couplers) and component costs, while maintaining isolation through alternative means using the transformer windings themselves for bidirectional communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the transformer windings themselves as the intermediary medium for communication, replacing the opto-coupler. By encoding information in voltage changes across the windings during specific switching intervals, the system maintains isolation while eliminating the need for separate optical coupling components and their associated power consumption.
2Reliability
If opto-couplers are used to communicate control information across the transformer, then isolation is maintained, but device complexity increases due to additional circuitry
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the transformer windings multi-functional by using them both for power transfer and for bidirectional communication. The same windings that transfer power also carry encoded control information in both directions (primary to secondary and secondary to primary), eliminating the need for separate opto-coupler circuits and reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention removes the opto-coupler and its associated driver circuits, bias current sources, and signal conditioning electronics from the design. This extraction of the optical coupling subsystem significantly reduces device complexity while maintaining isolation through the transformer-based communication approach.
3Loss of information
If traditional isolated power supply design with opto-couplers is used, then control information can be transmitted, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The transformer windings serve dual purposes: power transfer and bidirectional communication. By encoding control information in voltage changes during specific switching intervals, the system eliminates the need for expensive opto-coupler components and their associated circuitry, significantly reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining full control information transmission capability.
4Reliability
If opto-couplers are used for communication across the transformer, then isolation is maintained, but efficiency decreases in low-power applications
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the opto-coupler and its bias current consumption from the system. In low-power applications, eliminating this continuous power drain significantly improves overall efficiency, as the transformer-based communication method only consumes power during actual switching operations and information transmission.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables efficient communication of control information across the transformer while maintaining mains isolation, reducing power consumption and component costs, and improving efficiency in low-power applications by eliminating the need for opto-couplers and additional circuitry.
Implementation Method 1
a transformer with a first winding and a second winding; a transmitter configured to: detect a detectable variable at the first winding, generate a transformer relayed signal in accordance with the detectable variable, and provide the transformer relayed signal to the first winding
Data Source
AI summary
An aspect of the invention relates to a switched-mode power supply (500) comprising: a transformer with a first winding (506) and a second winding (508); a transmitter (510 512, 504, 514, 502) configured to: detect a detectable variable (Vout) at the first winding (506), generate a transformer relayed signal in accordance with the detectable variable (Vout), and provide the transformer relayed signal to the first winding (506); and a receiver (514, 516, 518) configured to: receive the transformer relayed signal from the second winding (508), and control a controllable variable at the second winding (508) in response to the transformer relayed signal, wherein the transformer relayed signal is a symbol stream comprising a plurality of symbols.