# Patent

## Title
Digital pulse width modulator

## Abstract

A DPWM (1) has a delay lock loop (4) which receives an input clock signal and provides an out-of-phase delayed clock at the output of each of eight delay cells (35). A multiplexer (5) selects one of the delay cell outputs at any one time. This allows the DPWM (1) to have eight times the resolution which would otherwise be achieved with the same input clock. A programmable module (2) has a control block (20) which interfaces with external CPU and DSP hosts and transmits programmed parameters to finite state machine controllers (15), each providing an independent output.

## Background
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/337,448 filed Jan. 24, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,627,032 which in turn is a continuation of PCT/IE2004/000101 filed Jul. 26, 2004 and published in English, which in turn claimed priority from Irish Patent Application No. 2003/0552 filed on Jul. 25, 2003, the entire contents of each of which are herein incorporated by reference.


FIELD
This application relates to digital pulse width modulators (DPWMs) for applications such as power supply control
PRIOR ART DISCUSSION
A DPWM generates a pulse width modulated (PWM) output signal which repeats over a fixed time interval called the switching period Ts (Ts=1/Fs). Generally, the PWM signal switches from a low to high logic state at the start of a switching period and toggles between a logic high and low state at a point in time during the switching period determined by the duty-cycle (the portion of the switching period for which the signal remains in the logic high state).
A clocked counter running at a frequency much greater than the PWM switching frequency determines the point at which the PWM changes logic state. For example, there may be a transition from high to low after 200 counter clock cycles and a toggle from low to high (start of a new switching period) at 1000 counter clock cycles. This gives a duty cycle d=200/1000=20%. Thus, the resolution of the DPWM is determined by the counter clocking frequency. In general the following relationship applies Fc=N*Fs, where Fc is the clock frequency, Fs is the output PWM switching frequency, and N is the number of counts in a switching period.
There is in general a trade-off between the competing requirements of decreasing the clock frequency to reduce power consumption and circuit cost on the one hand and increasing the clock frequency to improve resolution on the other hand. FIG. 1 shows an overall layout of a known counter/comparator DPWM for which the above trade-off is a major consideration.
Another known DPWM, known as a ring-oscillator-mux DPWM is shown in FIG. 2. A problem with this type is that it requires in some circumstances a large number of delay buffers, or there is a tendency for the clock to become skewed. Also the size of the multiplexer grows exponentially with N (the number of bits resolution).
Referring to FIG. 3 a hybrid DPWM is shown. Again, however, some of the above problems can still arise. A counter/dithering DPWM is shown in FIG. 4. However, long dithering patterns can cause high output AC ripple which is superimposed on the ripple from the switching action of the PWM signal.
The invention is therefore directed towards providing an improved DPWM.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided a DPWM comprising a counter and a comparator, characterised in that the DPWM further comprises a delay circuit for delaying a received clock signal to provide multiple clock phases to simulate a higher frequency clock.
In one embodiment, the delay circuit comprises a delay-locked loop circuit having a plurality of delay cells each providing a clock phase transition within the received clock period.
In another embodiment, the DPWM further comprises a multiplexer for selecting a phase from the delay circuit and providing it to an output control block.
In a further embodiment, the counter/comparator functionality is incorporated in a programmable module.
In one embodiment, the module comprises a control block for interfacing with an external host, and a plurality of controllers for providing outputs.
In another embodiment, the controllers are state machines.
In a further embodiment, each of the controllers operates independently to provide a PWM output based on parameters from the control block.
In one embodiment, the programmable module further comprises a component to provide an ADC sample and hold output signal.
In another embodiment, an ADC sample and hold signal is produced from a pre-programmed control register when the duty-cycle value is zero.
In a further embodiment, the programmable module forces all PWM outputs to zero in less than 1 ns in response to an asynchronous stop input.
In one embodiment, the duty-cycle can be clamped to programmable minimum and maximum values.
In another embodiment, the module generates multiple PWM outputs from programmed parameters.
In a further embodiment, the duty-cycle is programmable from 0-100%.
In one embodiment, the dead/delay times between the PWM outputs are programmable and are bit-wise accurate to a programmed resolution.
In another embodiment, the PWM output signals can be programmed to occur in a complementary or alternating sequence Mode 0 and Mode 1, respectively.
In a further embodiment, comprises a phase-locked loop to render the operating clock of the DPWM to be programmable.
In one embodiment, the operation of each DPWM controller is synchronous to an operating clock.
In another embodiment, the modulation type is programmable.
In a further embodiment, the programmed modulation types include trailing edge, leading edge, trailing triangle, and leading triangle.
In one embodiment, the duty-cycle can be programmed either from a host CPU or a discrete feedback controller.
In another embodiment, the resolution of the PWM signals are programmable from 6-12 bits.
In a further embodiment, the switching frequency range is from 100 KHz-15 MHz.
In one embodiment, the programmable module can work independently from the DLL to generate lower frequency/resolution switching frequencies yielding a true digital DPWM.
In another embodiment, the device can be programmed to enter a power-down mode.
In a further embodiment, the device can produce a synchronisation signal to other DPWM upon starting to generate PWM output signals.
The invention also provides a switching mode converter comprising a DPWM as defined above controlling a plurality of switches.
In one embodiment, the DPWM provides complementary made switch control outputs.
In another embodiment, the DPWM provides alternating mode switch control outputs.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The application will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is an example of a counter/comparator DPWM known from the prior art;
FIG. 2 is an example of a ring-oscillator-mux DPWM known from the prior art;
FIG. 3 is an example of a hybrid DPWM known from the prior art;
FIG. 4 is an example of a known from the prior art;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a DPWM of the invention;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a programmable DPWM module of the DPWM;
FIG. 7 is a diagram of a delay lock loop (DLL);
FIG. 8 is a diagram of a single voltage controlled cell and a waveform of the cell;
FIG. 9 shows a an input clock and individual delay stage output clocks;
FIG. 10 shows a mux slice for DLL output;
FIG. 11 is a diagram of a single-ended active clamp forward converter driven by a DPWM of the invention;
FIG. 12 is a diagram of a double-ended symmetrical half-bridge converter driven by a DPWM of the invention;
FIG. 13 is a set of DPWM output signals in Mode 0: complementary;
FIG. 14 is a set of DPWM output signals in Mode 1: alternating;
FIG. 15 is a pair of plots showing digital pulse width trailing edge modulation;
FIG. 16 shows leading edge modulation; and
FIGS. 17 and 18 are plots showing digital pulse width trailing and leading triangle modulation respectively.



DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 5 a DPWM 1 comprises a programmable DPWM module 2, an output control block 3, an analogue delay lock loop (DLL) 4, and clock multiplexers 5. The module 2 incorporates counter and comparator functionality and so the DPWM essentially is of the counter/comparator general type. However, as described in more detail below the DLL 4 pre-processes the input clock in a manner to considerably reduce required clock frequency. The overall DPWM 1 is a single CMOS chip in this embodiment.
This clock signal is fed to the input of the DLL 4. Assuming a DLL with M delay cells in the delay line, the DLL provides M delayed versions of the clock, one version at each delay cell output. In this example, M=8. Based on a control signal (three least significant bits of the duty cycle value) to the module 2, the multiplexer 5 chooses one of the delayed clock phases. Hence, without an increase in clock frequency, the time resolution has been increased by a factor of M. This is explained diagrammatically in FIG. 9. In particular, FIG. 9 shows the input clock Clk and the outputs of the eight delay cells in the same time dimension. Effectively, the delay cells allow the DPWM 1 to simulate a clock signal having eight times the frequency of the actual input clock.
Referring to FIG. 6 the module 2 is shown in more detail. DPWM controllers 15 within the module 2 can dynamically select a desired DLL clock phase to operate from based on the three least significant bits of the programmed dead and delay times for generating the additional PWM outputs. This allows the dead/delay times to be truly bit-wise accurate to the programmed resolution. A control block 20 receives external CPU and DSP instructions and routes programmed parameters to the controllers 15. The latter are effectively state machines, each of which independently generates an output. Thus the multiple outputs are not merely processed (e.g. inverted) versions of a single output. The control block 20 also feeds programmed parameters to an ADC sample and hold (S&H) function 16. The ADC S&H function 16 produces a sample and hold signal required by circuit blocks outside the DPWM 1 (such as an external analogue-digital converter).
The DLL 4 is shown in more detail in FIG. 7. A phase frequency detector 30 feeds a charge pump 31, in turn driving a buffer 32. These together form a control circuit. The buffer 32 drives a voltage controlled delay line (VCDL) 33. A single delay cell 35 is shown in FIG. 8. The VCDL 33 incorporates the eight cascaded cells 35.
For improved jitter performance and reduced on-chip area M (number of delay cells) was chosen to be 8 for this design. The reference clock enters the first delay buffer of the VCDL and passes through the remaining series connected delay cells where the final delay stage output clk_d, is compared by the phase frequency detector to the input clk to generate a phase alignment error signal.
In operation, the DPWM 1 provides PWM switching frequency waveforms in the range of 100 kHz to 15 MHz with resolutions of 6 to 12 bits by programming the required parameters via a CPU interface and adjusting the system clock (Clk in FIG. 5) frequency fclk as required. These ranges of resolution and switching frequency have been achieved using a 0.35 um CMOS process to fabricate the DPWM 1.
When the DLL locks the reference input clock to the delayed clock the total delay of the delay line should be equal to exactly one period of the reference clock resulting in 8 evenly delayed phases of the clk at each buffer stage in the VCDL as shown in FIG. 9. The DLL has a lock range of 35 MHz to 145 MHz.
The programmable DPWM module 2 is a digital system operating synchronously to the DLL output clock clk_d. It supports a CPU interface allowing parameters such as duty-cycle, mode (complementary or alternating), delay/dead-times, and number of bits resolution N (6 to 12 bits) to be programmed on power up. The DSP interface allows updated duty-cycle values from a DSP feedback controller to be programmed on a switching cycle-by-cycle basis during normal operation.
The DPWM module 2 in tandem with the DLL 4 generates the PWM waveforms based on the programmed parameters at clock frequencies given by fclk=(fsw*2N)/M (where N is the number of bits resolution and M is the number of clock phases from the DLL, e.g. fsw=4 MHz@8-bit resolution requires fclk=128 MHz).
An asynchronous input Stopn from an external device supports power supply protection features (such as high-speed over-current-protection). To protect the switches in the power stages activation of Stopn resets all PWM outputs to zero within a minimum delay, in this embodiment 1 ns. Depending on the end application the DPWM 1 may either temporarily reset all PWM outputs to zero, or may reset all PWM outputs to zero in a latching fashion. In the latter case, all PWM outputs remain zero until the DPWM is instructed through the CPU interface to resume normal operation.
The I/O control block 20 of the module 2 contains all the programmable registers (e.g. duty-cycle, dead/delay times, number of bits resolution) and controls all communication via the CPU or DSP to/from the DPWM 1.
The DPWM controllers 15 generate the individual PWM waveforms. PWM3 and PWM1 duty-cycles are derived versions of the PWM0 duty-cycle based on their programmed dead-times respectively.
During the high/low time generation of the PWM waveform the count sequence for the 3 least significant bits (lsb′s b2-b0 repeats every 8 cycles within the N-bit counter. This repetition can be avoided if instead binary 8 (b′1000) is added to bits bn-b0 of the N-bit counter hence reducing the fclk by a factor of 8. Once bn-b3 of the N-bit counter equal bn-b3 of the programmed clk, b2-b0 of dk select the delayed phase of fclk from the DLL to reset the PWM output (CLK_SEL signals in FIG. 5)
Referring again to FIG. 7, the DLL has a lock range of 35 MHz to 145 MHz. To achieve low jitter operation (low supply and substrate noise sensitivity), the buffer stages in the VCDL use differential clocked buffers.
Referring to FIG. 10, the DPWM module 2 generates the select signals for choosing which DLL clock phase should reset the PWM signal from high to low during the switching period. To minimize the propagation delay for the DLL clock phase through the 8:1 mux (providing adequate clock setup time for the PWM flip-flop) the clock phases are separated from the decode logic within the mux and passed to the output via a transmission gate. FIG. 10 shows one slice of the 8:1 mux illustrating how clk_d is fed directly to the T-Gate from the DLL.
In Switched Mode Power Converters, the output voltage and current need to be regulated. Samples of the regulated output voltage and possibly extra signals must be taken periodically (sampling), and converted into digital signals (quantisation). Within a switching cycle the preferred sampling time point is determined mainly by three (partially conflicting) requirements:

    
    
        1. samples should be taken as early as possible to ease ADC and discrete controller latency requirements,
        2. samples should be taken when synchronised noise in the power circuit is low, and
        3. samples should be taken at the time point when the instantaneous value of the regulated signal (approximately) reflects it's average value.
    
    


Based on a trade-off of these requirements the DPWM 1 generates an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) sample and hold pulse called ADC_S&H at exactly one half of the programmed duty-cycle of PWM0 every switching cycle.
A special case of a zero value duty-cycle is required for the ADC_S&H signal. In this case the point at which the ADC_S&H signal is generated in the switching period can be programmed through the control block.
Generally, the DPWM produces programmable duty cycles in a range from 0% to 100%. Certain switching power converter end applications may require (or may benefit from) a reduced duty cycle range. As an example, certain switching power converter topologies such as isolated forward converters may never exceed a certain maximum duty cycle or else transformer saturation may occur. Transformer saturation will typically lead to power stage destruction. Other applications may require that after startup the duty cycle never falls below a certain minimum value. A minimum duty cycle may be required by power converter secondary side circuit blocks in order to remain continuously operational. It is therefore desirable to equip the DPWM with an independently programmable upper and lower duty cycle clamp. Whenever the commanded duty cycle from the external DSP host exceeds the maximum clamp level programmed by the CPU, the DPWM will produce the maximum duty cycle. Whenever the commanded duty cycle from the DSP falls below the minimum clamp level programmed by the CPU, the DPWM will produce the minimum duty cycle. Clamping is implemented by the control block 20.
There is a wide variety of switching converter topologies using the DPWM 1 of the invention. The converter topologies may be categorised by the number of controlled power switches. Typically, the number of controlled switches ranges from one to four. The converter topologies may be further categorised by the phase relationships between the driving signals. It is an advantage of the DPWM 1 that it supports switching topologies with any number of controlled switches (typically up to four, but this is readily extended). The disclosed DPWM also supports at least two phasing modes (referred to as “Mode 0: complementary” and “Mode 1: alternating”).
In complementary mode, two sets of two signals each (PWM0 and PWM1, PWM2 and PWM3) are generated as shown in FIG. 13 which are approximately out of phase with respect to each other (neglecting small dead times). The complementary mode is useful for switching converters as shown in FIG. 11 where power switches need to operate out of phase, such as active clamp forward converters and asymmetrical half bridge converters, with or without synchronous rectification.
In alternating mode, a set of alternating signals (PWM0 and PWM1), as well as a set of overlapping signals (PWM2 and PWM3) is generated as shown in FIG. 14. The alternating mode is useful for power converters where a set of power switches need to turn on and off in an alternating fashion, and a different but synchronised set of switches need to turn on and off in an overlapping fashion. Examples for switching converters requiring the alternating mode include forward push-pull converters as well as symmetrical half bridge converters as shown in FIG. 12. In this mode the overlapping signals are useful to drive synchronous rectifiers (if present).
Switching power converters can be controlled using voltage mode or current mode control. Voltage mode control typically requires trailing edge PWM signals. However in current mode control the end application may require that the output inductor peak, average or valley current is the controlled variable.
FIG. 15 illustrates trailing edge pulse width modulation where the falling edge of the PWM signal is controlled by the programmed duty-cycle. This type of modulation scheme can be used for voltage mode controllers or current mode controllers where the valley inductor current is the control variable.
FIG. 16 illustrates leading edge pulse width modulation where the rising edge of the PWM signal is controlled by the programmed duty-cycle. This type of modulation scheme can be used for current mode controllers where the peak inductor current is the control variable.
FIG. 17 illustrates trailing triangle modulation. The programmed duty-cycle d is effectively split in half The PWM signal goes high at the start of the switching cycle for this d/2 value and then goes low. The PWM signal returns high at d/2 from the end of the switching period (1−d/2).
FIG. 18 illustrates leading triangle modulation. The DLL can be modified to achieve M delay stages further increasing the resolutions and switching frequency ranges possible. Lower resolution switching frequencies can be obtained by using the programmable DPWM module 2 standalone (i.e. without the need for the DLL) resulting in a truly all-digital DPWM solution.
Assuming an on-chip Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) the input clock to the DLL can also be made programmable. The invention is not limited to the embodiments described but may be varied in construction and detail.

## Claims

1. A switched mode power converter controller (SMPCC) for providing a PWM control signal to a power switch in a switching cycle,
the SMPCC controller having a hybrid Digital Pulse Width Modulator (DPWM), the hybrid DPWM effecting the PWM control signal at a switching point at a resolution of N bits across the switching cycle,
the hybrid DPWM comprising:
a) a counter circuit responsive to a clock signal and determining the switching point at a resolution of N-M bits, the counter circuit providing an enable output signal at the determined switching point,
b) a locked loop for delaying the clock signal to provide M clock phases from the clock signal,
c) a multiplexer for selecting one of the M clock phases to provide a multiplexor output in response to a received select signal,
d) an output control element having the multiplexor output as an input, wherein the control element is enabled by the enable output signal from the controller, and wherein the controller generates the multiplexor select signal so as to provide the PWM control signal at an effective resolution of N bits.

2. The SMPCC of claim 1, further comprising a control block for interfacing with an external host.

3. The SMPCC of claim 1, wherein the counter circuit is provided in a state machine.

4. The SMPCC according to claim 1, wherein the SMPCC is configured to provide an ADC sample and hold output signal.

5. The SMPCC of claim 4, wherein the ADC sample is provided when the duty-cycle value of the PWM control signal is zero.

6. The SMPCC of claim 1, wherein the SMPCC is configured to respond to an asynchronous stop input forcing the PWM control signal to zero in less than 1 ns.

7. The SMPCC of claim 1, wherein the SMPCC, wherein the duty-cycle of the PWM control signal can be clamped to programmable minimum and maximum values.

8. The SMPCC of claim 1, wherein the SMPCC, generates multiple PWM control signals from programmed parameters.

9. The SMPCC of claim 1, wherein the duty-cycle of the PWM control signal is programmable from 0-100%.

10. The SMPCC of claim 1, further comprising a phase-locked loop for providing the clock signal to the counter circuit, wherein the phase-locked loop is programmable to adjust the frequency of the clock signal.

11. The SMPCC of claim 1, wherein N is an integer value between 6-12 inclusive.

12. The SMPCC of claim 1, wherein the frequency of the switching cycles is from 100 KHz-15 MHz.

13. A switched mode power converter controller (SMPCC) for providing a plurality of control signals for operating individual power switches within a switching cycle of a switching converter,
the SMPC controller having a hybrid Digital Pulse Width Modulator (DPWM), the hybrid DPWM generating each of the control signals at switching points across the switching cycle at a resolution of N bits,
the hybrid DPWM comprising:
a) a counter circuit responsive to a clock signal,
b) a plurality of controllers comprising a plurality of comparators, each of the comparators being associated with an individual control signal and determining the switching point of the control signal at a resolution less than N and providing individual enabled signals at said determined switching points,
c) a locked loop for delaying the clock signal to provide a plurality of clock phases from the clock signal,
d) a plurality of output control elements, each of the individual control elements being enabled by an enable signal received from an associated comparators,
e) a plurality of multiplexers, each of the multiplexors for selecting one of the clock phases and providing an input to one of the output control elements in response to a select signal received from an associated controller, wherein the controller determines the value of said select signal to increase the effective resolution of the DPWM to N bits.

14. The SMPCC as claimed in claim 13, further comprising a control block for controlling the SMPCC wherein each of the controllers operate independently to provide enable and select signals based on parameters from the control block.

15. The SMPCC of claim 13, further comprising a control block for interfacing with an external host.

16. The SMPCC of claim 13 wherein the SMPCC is configured to respond to an asynchronous stop input to force the PWM controls signal to zero in less than 1 ns.

17. The SMPCC of claim 13, further comprising a phase-locked loop for providing the clock signal to the counter circuit, wherein the phase-locked loop is programmable to adjust the frequency of the clock signal.

18. The SMPCC of claim 13, wherein the PWM output signals can be programmed to occur in a complementary or an alternating sequence.

19. A switched mode power converter controller (SMPCC) for providing a PWM control signal to a power switch in a switching cycle,
the SMPCC controller having a hybrid Digital Pulse Width Modulator (DPWM), the hybrid DPWM effecting the PWM control signal at a switching point at a resolution of N bits across the switching cycle, the hybrid DPWM comprising:
a) a counter circuit responsive to a clock signal and providing a counter value,
b) a programmable module responsive to the counter value and determining the occurrence of the switching point from the counter value using the M most significant bits of the switching point, the programmable module providing an enable output signal at the determined occurrence, the programmable module providing a phase select signal with the N-M least significant bits of the switching point,
c) a locked loop for delaying the clock signal to provide a plurality of clock phases from the clock signal,
d) a multiplexer responsive to the phase select signal for selecting one of the clock phases to provide a multiplexor output in response to a received select signal,
e) an output control element having the multiplexor output as an input, wherein the control element is enabled by the enable output signal from the programmable module.

20. The switched mode power converter controller as claimed in claim 19, wherein the programmable module can work independently from the locked loop to generate lower frequency/resolution switching frequencies yielding a true digital DPWM.

21. The SMPCC of claim 19, further comprising a phase-locked loop for providing the clock signal to the counter circuit, wherein the phase-locked loop is programmable to adjust the frequency of the clock signal.