Patent ID: 11888397
Assignee: STMICROELECTRON S.R.L.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 6:
7. A DC-DC switching converter, comprising:
a first power switch operable to selectively couple an output terminal of the DC-DC switching converter to a first voltage, and a second power switch operable to selectively couple the output terminal to a second voltage;
a first driver stage coupled to and configured to control the first power switch, and a second driver stage coupled to and configured to control the second power switch;
wherein the first driver stage comprises a first switch, a second switch, and a third switch coupled in series between the first voltage and a first internal reference voltage, wherein the first switch is controlled by a drive command, the second switch is controlled by an activation command for the first driver stage and by a first signal indicative of a voltage level at the output terminal of the DC-DC switching converter, and the third switch is controlled by a switch control signal depending on the drive command and a signal indicative of an activation state of the second power switch;
a first driver control stage coupled to and configured to control the operation of the first driver stage, and a second driver control stage coupled to and configured to control the operation of the second driver stage, wherein the first driver control stage is configured to delay the activation command for the first driver stage when a first control signal is asserted; and
an output current sensing circuit coupled to the output terminal of the DC-DC switching converter, the output current sensing circuit configured to:
sense a sign of an output current delivered by the DC-DC switching converter at the output terminal when in operation, and to generate control signals for the first and second driver control stages; and
generate and feed the first control signal to the first driver control stage, the first control signal being asserted when, during operation, the sensed sign of the output current delivered by the DC-DC switching converter at the output terminal is negative and the DC-DC switching converter is sinking current from a load.