A switched-mode power regulator circuit has four solid-state switches connected in series and a capacitor and an inductor that regulate power delivered to a load. The solid-state switches are operated such that a voltage at the load is regulated by repetitively (1) prefluxing the inductor then charging the capacitor causing an increased current to flow in the inductor and (2) prefluxing the inductor then discharging the capacitor causing increased current to flow in the inductor. The inductor prefluxing steps enable the circuit to provide increased output voltage and/or increased output current.

A power supply comprises a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, a bridge circuit coupled to the primary winding of the transformer, a first rail coupled to the secondary winding of the transformer, and a second rail coupled to the secondary winding of the transformer. The bridge circuit comprises a plurality of switches. The power supply also comprises a first sensor assembly coupled to generate a first error signal representing a difference between currents in the first rail and the second rail. A controller is configured to alter a duty cycle of a first switch of the plurality of switches relative to a duty cycle of a second switch of the plurality of switches based on the first error signal.

In an embodiment, a method for operating an ACF converter includes: turning on a low-side transistor that is coupled between a primary winding of a transformer and a reference terminal to cause a forward current to enter the primary winding, turning off the low-side transistor; after turning off the low-side transistor, turning on a high-side transistor that is coupled between the primary winding and a clamp capacitor to cause a reverse current to flow through the primary winding; and after turning on the high-side transistor, when an overcurrent of the reverse current is not detected, keeping the high-side transistor on for a first period of time, and turning off the high-side transistor after the first period of time, and when the overcurrent of the reverse current is detected, turning off the high-side transistor without keeping the high-side transistor on for the first period of time.

A bidirectional DC-DC converter with three or more ports is described along with a method of operation thereof. The converter utilizes a common transformer for all ports and allows for power transfer from any port to any or all of the remaining ports. The converter may utilize a controller which implements variable-frequency control, delay-time control, and/or phase-delay control to achieve power transfer as desired between the converter ports. In some cases, power transfer between ports can operate similar to a series-resonant converter or a dual active bridge converter.

A circuit is disclosed. The circuit includes a current detecting FET, configured to generate a current signal indicative of the value of the current flowing therethrough, an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) configured to output a current in response to the voltage of the current signal, and a resistor configured to receive the current and to generate a voltage in response to the received current, where the generated voltage is indicative of the value of the current flowing through the current detecting FET. The current detecting FET is configured to become nonconductive in response to the generated voltage indicating that the current flowing through the current detecting FET is greater than a threshold.

Disclosed are methods, systems, devices, and other implementations, including a voltage converter device that includes one or more inductive elements to deliver inductor current to an output section of the voltage converter device, at least one switching device to control current flow at the output section of the voltage converter device, and a controller to controllably vary, according to a predictive model, a subsequently applied switching frequency to the at least one switching device to maintain zero-voltage switching based, at least in part, on the inductor current of the one or more inductive elements.

A semiconductor package is provided, which includes a first die and a second die. The first die includes a first section of a power converter, and the second die includes a second section of the power converter. The power converter may include a plurality of switches, and a Power Management (PM) circuitry to control operation of the power converter by controlling switching of the plurality of switches. The PM circuitry may include a first part and a second part. The first section of the power converter in the first die may include the first part of the PM circuitry, and the second section of the power converter in the second die may include the second part of the PM circuitry.

Methods, apparatuses, computer program products, and computer readable media are disclosed herein. In one aspect, an apparatus includes a first capacitor, a first inductor in resonance with the first capacitor, a first electronic switch and a second electronic switch. The first electronic switch may be configured to cause, when the first electronic switch is closed, the first capacitor to store a first energy, and to cause a second energy to be stored in magnetic fields of the inductor. The second energy may be transferred to a load during a resonant portion of an energy transfer cycle. The apparatus may further include a second electronic switch configured to cause the stored first energy in the first capacitor to be transferred at least in part to the magnetic fields of the inductor, and then transferred to the load during a buck portion of the energy transfer cycle.

A switched power converter (102) is arranged for supplying lighting means (108) as a load, having at least one (M40, M41) switch controlled by a control unit (106), wherein the control unit (106) comprises: a feedback controller, such as an ASIC or microcontroller, generating a switch control signal based on a feedback signal (Imeas), such as e.g. the load current (ILED), and
a separate sweep block, supplied with a signal representing a characteristic of the load (LED), such as e.g. the load voltage (VLED), and modulating the switch control signal (tout-ctrl) by a cyclic sweep, wherein the modulated switch control signal (tout-sweep) is provided directly or indirectly to the at least one switch (M40, M41).

A method for controlling an amount of power delivered to an electrical load may include controlling an average magnitude of a load current towards a target load current that ranges from a maximum-rated current to a minimum-rated current in a normal mode, and controlling the average magnitude of the load current below the minimum-rated current in a burst mode. The burst mode may include at least one burst-mode period that comprises a first time period associated with an active state and a second time period associated with an inactive state. During the burst mode, the method may include regulating a peak magnitude of the load current towards the minimum-rated current during the active state, and stopping the generation of at least one drive signal during the inactive state to control the average magnitude of the load current to be less than the minimum-rated current.