Patent ID: 11929680
Assignee: GOOGLE LLC
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G  Y | IPC H

Claim 8:
9. A circuit for regulating power comprising:
a first switch device coupled to an input of the circuit;
an inductor having a first terminal coupled to the first switch device and a second terminal coupled to an output of the circuit;
a second switch coupled between the first terminal of the inductor and a potential lower than the input of the circuit;
first and second sense circuitry configured to provide first and second indications of current flow through the first and second switch devices, respectively;
a clock operably coupled to drive circuitry of the first switch device and the second switch device;
a current comparator having an output operably coupled to the drive circuitry and a first input operably coupled to the second sense circuitry;
an error amplifier having an input operably coupled to the output of the circuit and an output coupled to a second input of the current comparator; and
an adaptive current controller configured to:
detect an increase of a load at the output of the circuit;
cause, in response to the increase of the load, the circuit to operate in an adaptive current control mode in which the clock of the circuit is prevented from affecting application of current to the inductor of the circuit;
implement a first phase of the adaptive current control mode in which the current is applied, via the first switch device, to the inductor until the first indication of current flow through the inductor reaches a predefined level for maximum inductor current;
implement a second phase of the adaptive current control mode in which the current is enabled to flow, via the second switch device, through the inductor until the current comparator determines that the second indication of current flow through the inductor reaches a current control signal provided via the output of the error amplifier;
detect a reduction of the load at the output while the circuit operates in the adaptive current control mode; and
transition, in response to the reduction of the load at the output, the circuit from the adaptive current control mode to operate in a steady state mode in which the clock of the circuit affects the application of the current to the inductor of the circuit.