# Patent

## Title
Active power factor correction control circuit, chip and LED driving circuit thereof

## Abstract

In one embodiment, an active power factor correction (APFC) control circuit, configured to generate a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control signal to control the operation of a power converter, can include: (i) an inductor current zero crossing detection circuit coupled to a common node between a power switch of the power converter and a first switch that are coupled in series, where the inductor current zero crossing detection circuit is configured to generate a comparison signal based on a voltage signal at the common node; (ii) the comparison signal being activated when an inductor current of the power converter decreases to zero; and (iii) the APFC control circuit being configured as a source driver, wherein a control terminal of the power switch is coupled to a constant voltage supply.

## Background
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 201310701205.8, filed on Dec. 18, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electronics, and more specifically to active power factor correction control circuits, and an LED driving circuit.
BACKGROUND
Switch mode power supplies can efficiently convert electrical power from a the source to a load, or to several different loads, with each corresponding to a different output. The main transistor of a switching-mode supply can switch between on and off states at a given operating frequency, and voltage regulation can be achieved by varying the ratio of the on-to-off time of the main transistor. Switch mode power supplies may have relatively high power conversion efficiency, as compared to other types of power converters. Switch mode power supplies may also be substantially smaller and lighter than a linear supply due to the smaller transformer size and weight. Switch mode power supplies can be used in many applications, such as LED driver circuits.
SUMMARY
In one embodiment, an active power factor correction (APFC) control circuit, configured to generate a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control signal to control the operation of a power converter, can include: (i) an inductor current zero crossing detection circuit coupled to a common node between a power switch of the power converter and a first switch that are coupled in series, where the inductor current zero crossing detection circuit is configured to generate a comparison signal based on a voltage signal at the common node; (ii) the comparison signal being activated when an inductor current of the power converter decreases to zero; and (iii) the APFC control circuit being configured as a source driver, wherein a control terminal of the power switch is coupled to a constant voltage supply.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a first example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a second example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a third example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a fourth example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a fifth example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a sixth example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Reference may now be made in detail to particular embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention may be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, it may be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents that may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, processes, components, structures, and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention.
As compared with traditional incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps, light-emitting diode (LED) has advantages of longer life and “green” non-pollution, lending itself to a wide range of potential applications. Lighting products employing LED must meet harmonic wave standard requirements. Therefore, the power factor of an LED driving circuit should be high, and this can be achieved by a power factor correction (PFC) method. PFC approaches can include passive power factor correction (PPFC) and active power factor correction (APFC).
An LED driving circuit employing APFC can include a power converter coupled to an LED load and an APFC control circuit. An AC input voltage may be rectified and filtered to generate a DC input voltage. The power converter can generate the required driving voltage and driving current to drive the LED load. Also, the on and off states of a power switch of the power converter can be controlled by a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control signal generated by the APFC control circuit, in order to improve the power factor of the LED driving circuit. When an APFC control circuit is employed to achieve a higher power factor, the structure of the APFC control circuit can be simplified and integrated into a single chip or integrated circuit (IC). However, the output current of the power converter may not be well-regulated in some cases, and peripheral circuits of the chip may be relatively complicated, which can increase difficulty of circuit debug.
An APFC control circuit can include an output current calculation circuit, an error calculation circuit, an inductor current zero crossing detection circuit, and a duty cycle calculation circuit. A constant voltage may be provided to the gate of the power switch of the power converter, and the periodic on and off states of the power switch can be controlled by changing the gate—the source voltage of the power switch, which can be achieved by regulating the voltage of the source of the power switch. In this way, the driving circuit of particular embodiments can simplify debugging of the APFC control circuit. Also, when the APFC control circuit is integrated into one chip, the number of pins of the chip can be relatively low (e.g., four), in order to decrease the amount and complication of peripheral circuitry, which can also simplify circuit debug.
In one embodiment, an active power factor correction (APFC) control circuit, configured to generate a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control signal to control the operation of a power converter, can include: (i) an inductor current zero crossing detection circuit coupled to a common node between a power switch of the power converter and a first switch that are coupled in series, where the inductor current zero crossing detection circuit is configured to generate a comparison signal based on a voltage signal at the common node; (ii) the comparison signal being activated when an inductor current of the power converter decreases to zero; and (iii) the APFC control circuit being configured as a source driver, wherein a control terminal of the power switch is coupled to a constant voltage supply.
Referring now to FIG. 1, shown is a schematic block diagram of a first example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. This particular example includes an APFC control circuit employed to drive power converter 11 to improve the power factor. APFC control circuit 10 can include output current calculation circuit 101, error calculation circuit 102, inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103, and duty cycle calculation circuit 104.
A first input terminal of output current calculation circuit 101 can connect to a first output terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104, a second input terminal can connect to a second output terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104, a third input terminal can connect to the source of power switch Qb of power converter 11, and an output terminal can connect to an input terminal of error calculation circuit 102. An output terminal of error calculation circuit 102 can connect to a first input terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104. A first input terminal of inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103 can connect to both DC voltage supply VCC and the gate of power switch Qb, a second input terminal can connect to the source of power switch Qb, and an output terminal can connect to a second input terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104.
A peak value of the current flowing through inductor Lb may be sampled by output current calculation circuit 101, in order to generate current feedback signal IFB. Error calculation circuit 102 can generate a compensation signal in accordance with a voltage feedback signal that represents current feedback signal IFB, and a trigger signal output by duty cycle calculation circuit 104. Inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103 can detect the current flowing through inductor Lb, and may activate a comparison signal when the current flowing through inductor Lb decreases to zero. Duty cycle calculation circuit 104 can generate a PWM control signal and trigger signal TDIS. The PWM control signal can be provided to output current calculation circuit 101 to control the on and off states of power switch Qb. Trigger signal TDIS can be used by output current calculation circuit 101 to generate current feedback signal IFB.
In this example, the gate of power switch Qb can connect to DC voltage supply VCC, and the voltage of the gate can be maintained as substantially constant. The source of power switch Qb can connect to a third input terminal of output current calculation circuit 101. The source voltage of power switch Qb may vary along with the voltage at the third input terminal of output current calculation circuit 101, such that the gate—the source voltage changes, and correspondingly controls power switch Qb to be on or off. In this example, power switch Qb may be driven by a source driver of APFC control circuit 10. In this way, APFC control circuit 10 and the circuit debug may be more simplified, as compared to other approaches.
Power converter 11 can include power switch Qb, inductor Lb, capacitor Cb and diode Db. For example, capacitor Cb and the LED load can connect in parallel, and then to inductor Lb in series to form a branch circuit. Also diode Db can connect in parallel with the branch circuit. Input voltage Vg can provide DC voltage to the branch circuit, and may be converted (e.g., increased or decreased) to an output voltage by controlling the on and off states of power switch Qb.
Referring now to FIG. 2, shown is a schematic block diagram of a second example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. In this example, APFC control circuit 10 can include output current calculation circuit 101, which includes switch M1, inductor current peak value detection circuit 1011, and current feedback signal generation circuit 1012. The gate of switch M1 can be configured as the first input terminal of output current calculation circuit 101, and can connect to the first output terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104, the drain may be configured as the third input terminal of output current calculation circuit 101, and can connect to the source of power switch Qb of the power converter 11, and the source can connect to ground. An input terminal of inductor current peak value detection circuit 1011 can connect to the drain of switch M1, an output terminal of which can connect to an input terminal of current feedback signal generation circuit 1012. An output terminal of current feedback signal generation circuit 1012 may be configured as the output terminal of output current calculation circuit 101 and can connect to the input terminal of error calculation circuit 102.
When power switch Qb and switch M1 are both on, current flowing through power switch Qb and switch M1 may be consistent with the inductor current flowing through inductor Lb. Inductor current peak value detection circuit 1011 can connect to the source of power switch Qb, in order to sample the inductor current. When the inductor current reaches a level of a peak value, the peak value of the inductor current can be provided to current feedback signal generation circuit 1012. Current feedback signal generation circuit 1012 can generate current feedback signal IFB in accordance with trigger signal TDIS and a signal representing the peak value of the inductor current.
In this example, PWM control signal may be generated by duty cycle calculation circuit 104 to control the on and off states of switch M1, in order to control the source voltage of power switch Qb. Therefore, power switch Qb may be controlled to be on and off periodically. Switch M1 can be an N-type MOSFET transistor or a P-type MOSFET transistor, or other suitable transistors. In this example, resistor R1 can connect between the gate of power switch Qb and DC voltage supply VCC. One terminal of resistor R1 can connect to the gate of power switch Qb, and the other terminal can connect to DC voltage supply VCC to better supply a constant bias voltage to the gate of power switch Qb.
Referring now to FIG. 3, shown is a schematic block diagram of a third example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Inductor current peak value detection circuit 1011 of output current calculation circuit 101 can include controllable switch S1, controllable switch S2, capacitor C1, and capacitor C2. A first terminal of controllable switch S1 can be configured as the input terminal of inductor current peak value detection circuit 1011, and can connect to the drain of switch M1, and a second terminal can connect to a first terminal of capacitor C1. A second terminal of capacitor C1 can connect to ground. A first terminal of controllable switch S2 can connect to the first terminal of capacitor C1, and a second terminal can connect to a first terminal of capacitor C2, which can be configured as the input terminal of inductor current peak value detection circuit 1011, and a second terminal of capacitor C2 can connect to ground.
Switch S1 can be controlled by a PWM control signal, and switch S2 can be controlled by a complementary version of the PWM control signal. For example, when power switch Qb is on, controllable switch S1 is on, and when power switch Qb is off, controllable switch S2 is on. When the PWM control signal is high, current flowing through switch M1 can be consistent with the current flowing through inductor Lb, and controllable switch S1 may be on. Therefore, capacitor C1 can be charged by the current flowing through switch M1. The voltage across capacitor C1 can represent the peak value of the inductor current at the end of the on time of controllable switch S1. When PWM control signal goes low, controllable switch S1 may be turned off, and controllable switch S2 can be turned on, and the voltage across capacitor C2 may be consistent with (e.g., substantially the same as) the voltage across capacitor C1. Therefore, the voltage across capacitor C2 that represents the peak value of the inductor current can be provided to current feedback signal generation circuit 1012.
Current feedback signal generation circuit 1012 can include switch M2, switch M3, switch M4, switch M5, amplifier A1, and resistor R2. The gates of switches M2 and M3 can be connected together, and the sources of switches M2 and M3 can connect to DC voltage supply VCC. The gate of switch M2 can connect to its drain. The drain of switch M2 can connect to the drain of switch M4, and the drain of switch M3 can connect to the drain of switch M5. The gate of switch M4 may be configured as the second input terminal of output current calculation circuit 101, and can connect to the second output terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104, and the source can be configured as the output terminal of output current calculation circuit 101, and can connect to the input terminal of error calculation circuit 102. The gate of switch M5 can connect to an output terminal of amplifier A1, and the source can connect to an inverting input terminal of amplifier A1 and to a first terminal of resistor R2. A non-inverting input terminal of amplifier A1 can be configured as the input terminal of current feedback signal generation circuit 1012, and can connect to a first terminal of capacitor C2. A second terminal of resistor R2 can connect to ground.
Amplifier A1 can receive a voltage signal across capacitor C2 that represents the peak value of inductor current. In accordance with the “virtual short” principle of an amplifier, the current flowing through resistor R2, switch M5, and switch M3 may be the ratio between the value of the voltage signal and resistor R2. In view that switches M2 and M3 may form a current mirror, the current flowing through switches M2 and M4 can be in direct proportion with the current flowing switch M3. When switch M4 is controlled to be on by trigger signal TDIS, current feedback signal IFB can be generated at the source of switch M4.
Error calculation circuit 103 can include transconductance amplifier Gm, controllable switch S3, and capacitor C3. A non-inverting input terminal of transconductance amplifier Gm can receive voltage reference signal VREF, an inverting input terminal can be configured as the input terminal of error calculation circuit 102, and can connect to the source of switch M4, and an output terminal can connect to a first input terminal of controllable switch S3. A second terminal of controllable switch S3 can connect to a first terminal of capacitor C3, and a second terminal of capacitor C3 can connect to ground.
Switch S3 can be controlled by pulse signal Dc with a duty cycle of no more than, e.g., 0.05. The error between voltage feedback signal VFB that represents current feedback signal IFB and reference voltage signal VREF may be calculated by transconductance amplifier Gm. When controllable switch S3 is on, capacitor C3 can be charged to generate voltage Vc at a first terminal of capacitor C3. When controllable switch S3 is off, voltage Vc across capacitor C3 may be maintained as substantially constant, in order to generate a compensation signal representing the error between voltage feedback signal VFB and reference voltage signal VREF.
When the duty cycle of pulse signal Dc is 0.5, the capacitance of capacitor C3 is 1, when the duty cycle is 0.05, the capacitance of capacitor C3 can be 0.1. When there is no controllable switch S3 employed, the capacitance of capacitor C3 can be 2. In this particular example, the capacitance of capacitor C3 can be no more than 0.1 if the duty cycle of pulse signal Dc employed to control switch S3 is no more than 0.05. The capacitance of capacitor C3 can be decreased by adding controllable switch S3 to decrease the volume of capacitor C3 which can facilitate integration of capacitor C3 into one chip, in order to decrease the pins and peripheral circuitry of the chip.
Inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103 can include bias voltage supply VOS and comparator A3. A positive terminal of bias voltage supply VOS can be configured as a first input terminal of inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103, and can connect to DC voltage supply VCC, and a negative terminal can connect to a non-inverting input terminal of comparator A3. An inverting input terminal of comparator A3 may be configured as a second input terminal of inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103, and can connect to a third input terminal of output current calculation circuit 101, and an output terminal can be configured as an output terminal of inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103, and can connect to a second input terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104.
Duty cycle calculation circuit 104 can include flip-flop RS1, flip-flop RS2, pulse signal generator 1041, comparator A4, current the source IS, capacitor C4, controllable switch S4, and inverter 1042. For example, set terminal S of flip-flop RS1 can be configured as the second input terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104, and can connect to the output terminal of comparator A3, reset terminal R can connect to an output terminal of comparator A4, and output terminal Q can connect to an input terminal of inverter 1042, and may be configured as the first output terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104 coupled to the gate of switch M1. A non-inverting input terminal of comparator A4 can connect to a first terminal of capacitor C4, and an inverting input terminal can be configured as the first input terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104, and can connect to a first terminal of capacitor C3.
A negative terminal of current the source IS can connect to the first terminal of capacitor C4, and a second terminal of capacitor C4 can connect to ground. A first terminal of controllable switch S4 can connect to the first terminal of capacitor C4, and a second terminal can connect to the second terminal of capacitor C4. Switch S4 can be controlled by an output signal of inverter 1042. A first terminal of pulse signal generator 1041 can connect to set terminal S of flip-flop RS1, and a second terminal can connect to reset terminal R of flip-flop RS2. Set terminal S of flip-flop RS2 can connect to an input terminal of inverter 1042, and output terminal Q may be configured as the second output terminal of duty cycle calculation circuit 104, and can connect to the gate of switch M4.
When the current flowing through inductor Lb crosses zero, the output signal of comparator A3 (a comparison signal) can go high. The PWM control signal generated at output terminal Q of flip-flop RS 1 may also be high because the high level compensation signal provided to set terminal S may turn on switch M1, and power switch Qb can also be turned on. A high level PWM control signal can go low by inverter 1042, in order to turn off controllable switch S4, and capacitor C4 may be charged by current the source IS. When the voltage across capacitor C4 reaches a level of the voltage across capacitor C3, a high level output of comparator A4 can be provided to reset terminal R of flip-flop RS1. The PWM control signal can go low to turn off switch M1, and then power switch Qb may also be turned off until switch M1 is turned on again in a next switching period. The on time and switching period of power switch Qb can be maintained as substantially constant to achieve a high power factor and improved performance.
When the current flowing through inductor Lb crosses zero, the PWM control signal may be high, flip-flop RS2 can be set, and output signal TDIS at output terminal Q may go high to turn on switch M4. The current flowing through inductor Lb may continue to decrease to be negative. Therefore, a mirror current that mirrors the current of inductor Lb can be cut off such that the current feedback signal is zero. When the output signal of comparator A3 is high, an output signal generated by pulse signal generator 1041 can be provided to reset terminal R of flip-flop RS2, and output signal TDIS can go low.
In this example, the on time and switching period of power switch Qb can be maintained as substantially constant to achieve a high power factor and improve performance. Furthermore, a controllable switch can be employed in the error calculation circuit, which can be controlled by a pulse signal with a duty cycle of no more than, e.g., 0.05 to decrease the capacitance of a compensation capacitor. Therefore, the compensation capacitor can be more easily integrated into one chip together with the APFC control circuit, in order to decrease the number of pins and peripheral circuitry.
Referring now to FIG. 4, shown is a schematic block diagram of a fourth example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. In this example, current mirror circuit 1013 can be coupled between the inductor current peak value detection circuit and switch M1. A first input terminal of current mirror circuit 1013 can connect to the drain of switch M1, a second input terminal can connect to the gate of switch M1, and an output terminal can connect to the first input terminal of inductor current peak value detection circuit 1011. Current mirror circuit 1013 can mirror the current flowing through switch M1 to generate a mirror current, which can also represent the current flowing through inductor Lb. The mirror current may be generated by enlarging the current flowing through inductor Lb, which can increase the accuracy of current detection to improve the control accuracy of the APFC control circuit.
Current mirror circuit 1013 can include switch M6, switch M7, switch M8, switch M9, amplifier A2, and resistor R3. For example, the gate of switch M6 can connect to the gate of switch M7 and the drain of switch M6. The source of switch M6 can connect to the source of switch M7 and DC voltage supply VCC. The drain of switch M6 can connect to the drain of switch M8. The drain of switch M7 can connect to a first terminal of resistor R3. Switches M6 and M7 can form a current mirror. The gate of switch M8 can connect to an output terminal of amplifier A2, and the source can connect to an inverting input terminal of second amplifier A2 and the drain of switch M9. The gate of switch M9 may be configured as a second input terminal of current mirror circuit 1013, and can connect to the gate of switch M1, and the source can connect to ground. A non-inverting input terminal of amplifier A2 may be configured as a first input terminal of current mirror circuit 1013, and can connect to the drain of switch M1. Switches M9 and M1 can form another current mirror. Also, a second terminal of resistor R3 can connect to ground.
Assuming that the ratio between current of switches M9 and M1 is k, the current flowing through current mirror circuit 1013 can be k times the current flowing through inductor current Lb. Therefore, the accuracy of detection of the inductor current peak value can be improved. In this example, the ratio between the resistances of resistors R2 and R3 can be predetermined. Therefore, the multiple of the enlarging current by current mirror circuit 1013 can be determined by regulating the ratio between the resistances of resistors R2 and R3, in order to decrease the accuracy requirement of resistors R2 and R3.
Referring now to FIG. 5, shown is a schematic block diagram of a fifth example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. In this example, APFC control chip 50 can include an APFC control circuit as described above, as well as pin T1, pin T2, pin T3, and pin T4. The third input terminal of output current calculation circuit 101 can connect to the drain of power switch Qb of power converter 11 through pin T1. The first input terminal of inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103 can connect to the gate of power switch Qb through pin T2 and can connect to DC voltage supply VCC by pin T3. The input terminal of error calculation circuit 102 can connect to filter circuit 51 through pin T4. APFC control chip 50 can integrate output current calculation circuit 101, error calculation circuit 102, inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103, and duty cycle calculation circuit 104 into one chip/IC with only four pins for external connection, which can decrease the amount of peripheral circuitry.
Referring now to FIG. 6, shown is a schematic block diagram of a sixth example APFC control circuit, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The LED driving circuit can include power converter 11, an APFC control circuit as described above, and filter circuit 51. Power converter 11 can convert input voltage Vg into a DC voltage and a DC current, in order to drive an LED load under the control of the APFC control circuit. Filter circuit 51 can filter the current feedback signal generated by output current calculation circuit 101, in order to generate a voltage feedback signal that represents the current feedback signal.
In this example, AC input voltage may be rectified by a rectifier (e.g., a rectifier bridge), and filtered by capacitor Cin to generate DC input voltage Vg. Input voltage Vg can be converted to a constant output current to drive the LED load by power converter 11 under the control of the APFC control circuit. Current feedback signal IFB may be filtered by filter circuit 51 to generate a voltage feedback signal, and then be provided to error calculation circuit 102. In this example, power converter 11 can include inductor Lb, power switch Qb, capacitor Cb, and diode Db. One terminal of inductor Lb can connect to cathode of the LED load, and the other terminal can connect to the drain of power switch Qb.
Filter circuit 51 can include resistor R4 and capacitor C5 connected in parallel. A first terminal of resistor R4 can connect to the input terminal of error calculation circuit 102 through pin T4, and a second terminal can connect to ground. In this example, a high power factor and a constant driving current can be achieved relative to other approaches. The on and off states of power switch Qb can be controlled by regulating the voltage of the source of power switch Qb in view that voltage of the gate is substantially constant. In this example, output current calculation circuit 101, error calculation circuit 102, inductor current zero crossing detection circuit 103, and duty cycle calculation circuit 104 can be integrated into one chip, in order to significantly decrease the amount of peripheral circuitry, and to simplify application of the chip.
The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilise the invention and various embodiments with modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

## Claims

1. An active power factor correction (APFC) control circuit, configured to generate a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control signal to control the operation of a power converter, the APFC control circuit comprising:
a) an inductor current zero crossing detection circuit coupled to a common node between a power switch of said power converter and a first switch that are coupled in series, wherein said inductor current zero crossing detection circuit is configured to generate a comparison signal based on a voltage signal at said common node;
b) said comparison signal being activated when an inductor current of said power converter decreases to zero; and
c) said APFC control circuit being configured as a source driver, wherein a control terminal of said power switch is coupled to a constant voltage supply.

2. The APFC control circuit of claim 1, further comprising a trigger signal generation circuit configured to generate a trigger signal that represents an on time of said inductor current in accordance with said comparison signal and said PWM control signal.

3. The APFC control circuit of claim 2, further comprising an inductor current peak value detection circuit coupled to said common node, wherein said inductor current peak value detection circuit is configured to detect a peak value of said inductor current.

4. The APFC control circuit of claim 3, further comprising an output current calculation circuit configured to generate a current feedback signal in accordance with said trigger signal and said peak value of said inductor current.

5. The APFC control circuit of claim 4, further comprising a PWM control signal generation circuit configured to generate said PWM control signal in accordance with said comparison signal and said current feedback signal.

6. The APFC control circuit of claim 5, wherein an on time of said power switch is regulated to be substantially constant.

7. The APFC control circuit of claim 5, wherein said comparison signal is configured to trigger said PWM control signal.

8. The APFC control circuit of claim 5, further comprising a filter circuit configured to generate a voltage feedback signal by filtering said current feedback signal.

9. The APFC control circuit of claim 8, wherein said PWM control signal generation circuit comprises:
a) an error calculation circuit configured to calculate an error between said voltage feedback signal and a voltage reference, and to generate a compensation signal;
b) an on time generation circuit configured to generate an on time signal in accordance with said compensation signal; and
c) a logic circuit configured to generate said PWM control signal in accordance with said on time signal and said comparison signal.

10. The APFC control circuit of claim 8, wherein:
a) said inductor current zero crossing detection circuit, said trigger signal generation circuit, said inductor current peak value detection circuit, said output current calculation circuit, and said PWM control signal generation circuit are integrated into a chip; and
b) said first filter circuit is coupled to one pin of said chip.

11. The APFC control circuit of claim 10, wherein said power switch and said first switch are integrated into said chip, said chip comprising:
a) a first pin coupled between said voltage supply and said control terminal of said power switch;
b) a second pin coupled between a power terminal of said power switch and said inductor;
c) a third pin coupled between said output current calculation circuit and said filter circuit; and
d) a fourth pin coupled to ground.

12. The APFC control circuit of claim 10, wherein said first switch is integrated into said chip, said chip comprising:
a) a first pin coupled between said voltage supply and said inductor current zero crossing detection circuit;
b) a second pin coupled between a control terminal of said power switch and said voltage supply;
c) a third pin coupled between a second power terminal of said power switch and a first terminal of said first switch; and
d) a fourth pin coupled between said output current calculation circuit and said filter circuit.

13. A light-emitting diode (LED) driving circuit, comprising:
a) the APFC control circuit of claim 8; and
b) a power conversion circuit configured to receive a DC input voltage, and being controlled by said PWM control signal to generate an output current to drive an LED load.

14. The LED driving circuit of claim 13, wherein said power conversion circuit is configured as a buck power stage circuit comprising:
a) said LED load, said inductor, said power switch, and said first switch coupled in series between said DC input voltage and ground;
b) an output capacitor coupled in parallel with said LED load; and
c) a rectifier device coupled between said DC input voltage and a common node of said inductor and said power switch.

15. The APFC control circuit of claim 4, wherein said inductor current peak value detection circuit comprises:
a) a first controllable switch coupled to said common node and controlled by said PWM control signal;
b) a filter circuit coupled to said controllable switch; and
c) said controllable switch being turned on, and said inductor current being filtered by said filter circuit to generate a first voltage signal that said peak value of said inductor current when said PWM control signal is active.

16. The APFC control circuit of claim 15, wherein said output current calculation circuit comprises:
a) a current-to-voltage conversion circuit configured to convert said first voltage signal to a current signal; and
b) a controllable switch coupled to said current-to-voltage conversion circuit and controlled by said trigger signal, wherein a current flowing through said controllable switch is configured as said current feedback signal.

17. The APFC control circuit of claim 4, wherein:
a) said current feedback signal is configured as a square waveform;
b) in each switching cycle, a peak value of said current feedback signal is in direct proportion with said peak value of said inductor current; and
c) an on time of said current feedback signal is consistent with that of said comparison signal.

18. The APFC control circuit of claim 2, wherein said trigger signal generation circuit comprises an RS flip-flop having a set terminal configured to receive said PWM control signal, and a reset terminal configured to receive said comparison signal.

19. The APFC control circuit of claim 1, wherein said comparison signal is activated when said voltage signal at said common node begins to decrease.