Abstract:
A charge pump can be used with a bus-powered device connected to a bus. The charge pump is formed of a power connection from the bus carrying a DC power signal constrained to not exceed a given current limit and a given voltage limit, a DC-to-DC step-down voltage converter, a capacitor, and a DC-to-DC step-up voltage converter. The step-down converter has an input connected to the power connection and produces an intermediate signal having a voltage the same or less than the voltage of the power signal. The capacitor is connected to the output of the step-down converter. The step-up converter has an input connected to the output of the step-down converter and to the capacitor, and produces a final output signal having a voltage greater than the given voltage limit. The output of the step-up converter is connected to and provides DC power to the device.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
   This is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/176,802, filed Jul. 6, 2005. 
   COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
   © 2005 Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR § 1.71(d). 

   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The field of this disclosure relates generally but not exclusively to electronic signal bus interfaces, and more particularly, to provision of power via a bus. 
   BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
   Machine vision is useful in many applications, including reading indicia on semiconductor wafers during semiconductor manufacturing processes, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,870,949. In machine vision, there are many different types of cameras available. Camera systems include a device for image capture (like a CCD (charge-coupled device) or CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensor), a conversion from analog to digital pixel data (either located inside the sensor or not) and a method for transferring the data to a processing unit. In many cameras, including those with integrated lighting, they have separate data buses from the power source. This is seen with many serial protocols because the camera unit requires a separate power connection from a power supply, typically 12 to 24 volts (V). 
   Development of new powered bus architectures allows for the transfer of power along with the serial data. In this, the complexity of the remote device is lower due to the lack of additional power cables and connectors. However, the voltage level and the amount of current supported is mostly inadequate for lighting applications in machine vision. 
   Some serial bus standards have higher voltage and current ratings, like the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 1394 standard, which offers significantly more power and voltage than other standards like USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0. In the USB standard, the voltage offered is 5 V at 500 milliamps (mA). In comparison, IEEE 1394 offers 1.5 amps (A) at 12 V. 
   Machine vision cameras with integrated lighting require a large source of energy at a high voltage and high repetition rate to source the integrated lights at a particular repetition or frame rate. Presently available powered serial bus architectures, which allow for low cost and high performance data transfer, do not provide the voltage or current needed to source the lighting in the integrated camera unit. 
   The traditional methods of charging light circuits at a higher potential are to simply raise the bus voltage to the desired potential with a “boost” element, and then connect a bank of charge storage elements to the output of the “boost” element, as shown in  FIG. 1 , or to use a Xenon flash tube to create a minuscule amount of charge that is raised to a very high potential (e.g., 350 V). The problems inherent in the above approaches are particularly troublesome, and prohibitive in expense of circuit board surface area, component size, system cost, and short component lifetimes. 
   The simple boost conversion circuit  100  in  FIG. 1  has two principal problems: (1) The current budget of 500 mA allowed on the USB bus is more than exhausted in the basic operation of the switching regulator circuit; and (2) the capacitive charge support is insufficient to provide for lighting pulses extending beyond tens of microseconds. Even a moderately large “ordinary” can capacitor (10 millimeter (mm) diameter×20 mm height), which is capable of withstanding 10 V, cannot be easily obtained in values much in excess of 1000 μF (microFarads). Another problem is that because the boost factor is two in this design, approximately twice the load current is sacrificed by being switched to ground. 
   Xenon flash charging circuits, which are common in disposable cameras, have the problem that a tiny amount of charge raised to a very high potential will significantly degrade the lifetime of the lighting elements, as this will produce intolerable thermal spikes. 
   SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
   According to one aspect, the invention is a charge pump for use with a bus-powered device connected to a bus. The charge pump comprises a power connection, a DC-to-DC step-down voltage converter, a capacitor, and a DC-to-DC step-up voltage converter. The power connection is from the bus for receipt of a DC power signal constrained to not exceed a given current limit and a given voltage limit. The DC-to-DC step-down voltage converter has an input and an output. The input is connected to the power connection. The step-down voltage converter produces at its output an intermediate signal having a voltage less than the voltage of the power signal. The capacitor is connected to the output of the step-down voltage converter. The DC-to-DC step-up voltage converter has an input and an output. The input of the step-up voltage converter is connected to the output of the step-down voltage converter and to the capacitor. The step-up voltage converter produces at its output a final output signal having a voltage greater than the given voltage limit. The output of the step-up voltage converter is connected to the bus-powered device and provides DC power to the device in the form of the final output signal. 
   According to another aspect, the invention is a method comprising receiving a power signal from a bus, storing charge from the power signal, converting the power signal to a higher voltage, thereby resulting in a boost signal, and providing the boost signal to a device connected to the bus for powering the device. 
   According to yet another embodiment, the invention is a bus-powered integrated camera connected to a bus. The camera comprises an imager connected to the bus and oriented to capture an image of an object to be imaged during an exposure time, an illumination source oriented to supply light on the object to be imaged during the exposure time, and a charge pump connected between the bus and the illumination source. The charge pump is substantially as described above. 
   Additional aspects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a simple boost circuit for a powered bus. 
       FIG. 2  is a high-level schematic diagram of a buck-boost supercap charge pump circuit, according to one embodiment. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of the buck voltage regulator of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of the boost voltage regulator of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 5  is a plot of voltage waveforms from the circuit of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart of a method according to one embodiment. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   With reference to the above-listed drawings, this section describes particular embodiments and their detailed construction and operation. As one skilled in the art will appreciate in light of this disclosure, certain embodiments are capable of achieving certain advantages over the known prior art, including some or all of the following: (1) the ability to utilize a bus-powered approach for machine vision applications; (2) advantageous size, cost, and component lifetimes; and (3) more efficient illumination from a powered bus. These and other advantages of various embodiments will be apparent upon reading the remainder of this section. 
     FIG. 2  is high-level schematic diagram of a buck-boost supercap charge pump circuit  200 , as part of a bus  202  comprising a power line in addition to one or more data lines  205 , according to one embodiment. The circuit  200  interfaces with the power line and comprises a buck regulator  300 , a capacitor C 1 , and a boost regulator  400 . The buck regulator  300  is a DC-to-DC step-down voltage converter that converts the voltage at its input node  210  to a lower value at its output node  220 . The input node  210  can be connected to a power line on a powered bus. The voltage at the node  220  charges the capacitor C 1 , which preferably has a capacitance on the order of 1-10 F (Farads). The charge stored in the capacitor C 1  is released through the boost regulator  400 , which is DC-to-DC step-up voltage converter, preferably of the switching type. The output of the boost regulator  400  is a signal on the node  230 . That signal has higher voltage, at least for a limited time, than the power signal at the node  210  and can be used to provide power to a device, such as a bus-powered camera with strobe illumination. 
   In the case where the circuit  200  is used to provide power for strobe illumination whose power requirements are 200 mA at a voltage of 9-12 V for a period of 100 ms, then the capacitor C 1  should have a fairly large capacitance value. In particular, if the boost regulator  400  draws 1 A of current, then total current draw from the capacitor is 1.2 A. Further, in (typical) cases where the boost regulator  500  does not operate well with extreme levels of voltage droop in its input signal, it is desirable to limit the input droop to a predetermined value, such as 100 mV. In this situation, the required capacitance can be computed as follows: 
           C   =         I   *   t       Δ   ⁢           ⁢   V       =         1.2   ⁢           ⁢   A   *   100   ⁢           ⁢   ms       100   ⁢           ⁢   mV       =     1.2   ⁢           ⁢   F               
To provide a capacitance on this order, the capacitor C 1  is preferably a “supercap,” such as the Electric Double-Layer Gold Capacitor Series, from Panasonic, which are available in the 1-10 F range in modestly sized packages typically about 10 mm diameter×20 mm height.
 
   The basic architecture of the circuit  200  is especially well suited for use in the case in which bus  202  is a USB bus. The power line of a USB bus is set to 5 V and can provide up to 500 mA of current. However, the large-capacitance capacitors that are typically required for the capacitor C 1  cannot tolerate voltages that large. Typical “supercap” capacitors at the time of this writing can handle no more than a maximum of about 2.3 V. The buck regulator  300  is therefore used to step-down the bus voltage to a level suitable for application across the capacitor C 1 . Moreover, the 200 mA current limit of the buck regulator  300  prevents any excessive current draw on the USB bus. With a managed light pulse repetition rate, the charge that is taken during a light pulse can be restored into the capacitor C 1  at a moderate rate of 200 mA, which will not impose any undue draw on the USB bus. 
     FIGS. 3 and 4  are schematic diagrams of particular implementations of the buck regulator  300  and the boost regulator  400 , respectively. In this implementation the buck regulator  300  comprises an integrated circuit U 1 , resistors R 3 , R 4 , and R 5 , as well as capacitors C 4  and C 8 . The integrated circuit U 1  is preferably a low dropout (LDO) voltage regulator, such as a National Semiconductor 2986 ultra LDO regulator. In a, preferred version of the circuit, the capacitors C 4  and C 8  are 10 μF capacitors, R 3  is a 1 ohm (Ω) resistor, R 4  is a 51.1 KΩ (kilohm) resistor, and R 5  is a 39.2 KΩ resistor. That version of the circuit converts a 5 V signal at the input node  210  to a 2.17 V signal at the intermediate node  220  and limits the current into the intermediate node  220  to no more than 200 mA. These values work well to convert a power signal from a USB bus to a signal suitable for charging a supercap. 
   The buck regulator  300  can also provide other features to facilitate charge storage including current limiting and protection from over-voltage to protect a charge storage device such as the capacitor C 1 . In other implementations, depending upon the specifications of the input signal and the requirements of the charge storage device, the buck regulator  300  can be an equivalent-voltage device (i.e., its output voltage approximately equals its input voltage), or it can be eliminated from the system all together. 
   The boost regulator  400  is connected to the intermediate node  220  and functions to boost the voltage across the capacitor C 1  from a lower voltage to a higher voltage at the output node  230 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , one form of the boost regulator  400  comprises an integrated circuit U 2 , an inductor L 1 , a Schottky diode D 3 , resistors R 7 , R 8 , R 9  and R 11 , as well as capacitors C 2 , C 3 , C 9 , C 10 , and C 11 . The integrated circuit U 2  is preferably a National Semiconductor LM2623 gated-oscillator-based boost DC-to-DC converter. 
   The values of the components of the boost regulator  400  can be chosen to satisfy given operational requirements, including those of the charge storage device connected to the intermediate node  220  and those of the device to be powered at the output node  230 . For the case in which the buck regulator  300  has the values detailed above and in which the device to be powered requires 200 mA of pulsed output current at approximately 11 V, then the following analysis guides the selection of component values for the boost regulator  300 . 
   The duty cycle of the switching boost regulator  400  at light loads is defined roughly by the ratio of output to input voltages, with considerations for the voltage drop (approximately 0.5 V) across the Schottky diode D 3 , as follows:
 
 D   OFF   =V   IN /(1.05*( V   OUT +0.5))=2/(1.05*(10.9+0.5)=0.167.
 
 D   ON =1− D   OFF =0.833.
 
   The average inductor current is proportional to the duty cycle, as follows:
 
 I   L(AVG) =(1 /D   OFF )* I   OUT =5.98*200 mA=1.20 A,
 
and, the average inductor ripple current is given by the following relation:
 
Δ i   L =( D   ON   *V   IN )/(2 *f   SW   *L ),
 
where f sw  is the frequency of operation. The value of L can be chosen such that Δi L  is less than 50% of I L(AVG) , assuming f sw =1 MHz (megaHertz), as follows:
 
 L =( D   ON   *V   IN )/(2 *f   SW   *Δi   L )=(0.833*2)/(2*10 6 *0.5*1.20)=1.39 μH.
 
A good starting point is 1.5 μH, particularly if the frequency goes down.
 
   At low input voltages, parasitic resistive elements in the circuit can significantly affect circuit operation. In particular, the maximum current that can be moved through the inductor when the switch is closed is I L(LIMIT) =V IN /R S . If the equivalent series resistance of the supercap is 0.3 Ω, the DC resistance of the inductor is 0.009 Ω, and the “on” resistance of the switch R DS =0.09 Ω, then R S  can be estimated conservatively as 0.4 Ω. Then the maximum inductor short-circuit current is I L(LIMIT) =2 V/0.4 Ω=5 A. The peak inductor current can be calculated as
 
 I   L(PEAK)   =I   L(AVG)   +Δi   L /2=1.2  A+ 0.46*1.2  A /2=1.467  A,  
 
which is well under I L(LIMIT) , even if the frequency goes down, or the inductance goes down.
 
   The charge stored on the capacitor C 1 , when fully charged, is given by
 
 Q=C*V= 4.7  F* 2.17  V= 10.1  C  (Coulombs).
 
In this case, the first LDO regulator has a 200 mA current limit, which will charge the capacitor C 1  in the following time: t=Q/I=10.1/0.2=50.5 s (seconds). Maximum light current in this case is 200 mA. Because the circuit operates at a high duty cycle, most of the charge taken from the capacitor C 1  is spilled to ground through the switch in the boost regulator  400 . The portion taken directly by the load is:
 
Δ Q   LOAD   =I*t= 0.2  A* 33 ms=6.6 mC.
 
The portion dumped through the switch is:
 
Δ Q   SW   =ΔQ   LOAD ( D   ON   /D   OFF )=6.6 mC*0.833/0.167=33 mC.
 
The total charge taken from the supercap per pulse is then:
 
Δ Q   TOTAL   =ΔQ   LOAD   +ΔQ   SW =6.6 mC+33 mC≈40 mC.
 
   In 330 ms (the minimum inactive period), the circuit  200  can recover 0.2*0.33 mC=66 mC of charge. This allows for a positive charge cycle that has a design margin for allowing the capacitor C 1  to have room to fully charge under maximum conditions. 
   According to the prior analysis, the capacitor C 1  when fully charged contains 10.1 Coulombs. If the circuit  200  consumes just 40 mC, that is just 0.4% of the total charge. Since Q=C*V, and C remains constant, as Q diminishes by 0.4%, so does V, for a droop of approximately 7 mV. This is within the specifications of the circuit for maximum voltage droop. 
   The circuit  200  was implemented and tested supplying power to an integrated light system and camera from a USB bus.  FIG. 5  is a plot  500  of waveforms from that circuit, showing the output voltage waveform  510 , inductor current waveform  520 , and switch node waveform  530 . The output voltage waveform  510  is shown to be holding at approximately 10.8 V. The inductor current waveform  520  ripples at 1.8*V OUT .  FIG. 5  is a plot of voltage waveforms from the circuit of  FIG. 3  with an average level of 6*V OUT . The switch node waveform  530  shows that the duty cycle is about 83.3%. 
   Thus, the circuit  200  is a charge boost system that can increase a bus power voltage from a nominal 5 volts (in the case of USB) to a higher voltage, with support for substantial current. In cases where the power is supplied for the purpose of illumination, this increase in voltage allows for more LEDs to be placed in series (also called “strings”) to better utilize the current for illumination. Because there is a higher potential on the string, more LEDs can be placed, allowing a given amount of charge to do more work, and reducing losses caused by thermal dissipation. In a preferred application, a set of 24 LEDs is fired simultaneously. The set of LEDs is arranged in one or more rings around the camera to illuminate a semiconductor wafer during the camera&#39;s exposure time for machine vision. The ring(s) has six strings, each with four LEDs per string. Each string draws approximately 33 mA, so the total current draw for the ring is approximately 200 mA. 
   The circuit  200  effectively uses a remote energy storage device to store energy required to fire remote lights. Since the exposure time of a camera is small, typically tens of milliseconds, the amount of time required by the lights to be on is on the same order of magnitude. To increase the output of the lights, one wants the current of the system to be as high as possible for the exposure time of the camera. In the circuit  200 , the average current draw is low and is kept under the overall current limit of the powered serial bus (in the case of USB is 500 mA), but the peak current draw for the exposure time of the camera is high. The use of an energy storage device also requires charging of the system between strobes and implementing a system that allows for high peak currents and a high enough frame rate for the application while staying within the limits of the bus power specification. 
   Those skilled in the art will therefore appreciate, in light of the teachings set forth herein, that the circuit  200  is well suited for powering an integrated machine vision camera with integrated lights driven by the USB 2.0 powered serial bus. This technique can be extended to other powered bus architectures including IEEE 1394 in applications where the needs of more current and energy are required. Also note that the power can be supplied by a computer in which the bus host is located or by another device, such as a powered hub. 
     FIG. 6  is a flowchart of a method  600  according to one embodiment. The method  600  begins by receiving ( 610 ) a power signal from a bus, which may be any type of bus, typically a powered serial bus such as a USB-compliant bus or an IEEE 1394-compliant bus. The entire bus signal or just the power connection from the bus may be received. Structure for performing the receiving step  610  include, for example, bus ports, bus input interfaces, or simply a connection from the power pin(s) or power wire(s) from a bus. The method  600  next regulates ( 620 ) the voltage of the power signal to a lower potential. The regulating step  620  may be as simple as a voltage step-down conversion or may be more elaborate. One illustrative structure for performing the regulating step  600  is the buck regulator  300  described above. The method  600  stores ( 630 ) charge from the lower voltage signal (i.e., “buck” signal) that results from the regulating step  620 . The preferred means for storing charge is a capacitor, most preferably a supercap at the time of this writing. Other charge storage devices may be utilized instead. The method  600  then converts ( 640 ) to a higher potential the lower voltage signal that results from the regulating step  620  and that supplies the charge for storage. The converting step  640  can be as simple as a step-up or “boost” voltage conversion or may be more elaborate. One illustrative structure for performing the converting step  640  is the boost regulator  400  described above. The result of the converting step  640  can be referred to as a “buck-boost” signal. Finally, the method  600  provides ( 650 ) the buck-boost signal to a device connected to the bus for powering the device. Means for providing the buck-boost signal may be an electrical connection to the device sufficient to carry the power to the device. The device may be any type of device but in a presently preferred embodiment is a strobe illumination device or a combination of a camera with integrated strobe illumination, such as may be used for machine vision applications, especially the imaging of indicia on a semiconductor wafer during its processing. 
   The terms and descriptions used above are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many variations can be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the invention. The scope of the invention should therefore be determined only by the following claims—and their equivalents—in which all terms are to be understood in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated.