Patent Publication Number: US-2019171782-A1

Title: Storage device having equivalent circuit of inductor stored therein, and server for providing equivalent circuit of inductor

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     This application claims benefit of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2017-0166973 filed on Dec. 6, 2017 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a storage device having an equivalent circuit of an inductor for a simulation stored therein, and a server for providing an equivalent circuit of an inductor. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Recently, in accordance with rapid technological change, it has been very important to shorten a development period and secure reliability of a product in an actual environment. Therefore, before a pilot product is manufactured and verified in a developing process, a simulation may be performed using a computer to contribute to the shortening of a development period. Such a simulation using a computer may be performed using an equivalent circuit of an actual component. In this case, as physical characteristics of the actual component are more accurately reflected in the equivalent circuit, accuracy of the simulation is further improved. Resultantly, the development period may further be shortened, and product reliability may also be improved. 
     SUMMARY 
     An aspect of the present disclosure may provide a storage device having an equivalent circuit of an inductor stored therein. 
     An aspect of the present disclosure may also provide a server for providing an equivalent circuit of an inductor. 
     According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a storage device may store an equivalent circuit. The equivalent circuit having a first terminal and a second terminal may include: a first inductor; and a first functional module connected to the first inductor and adjusting an inductance of the first inductor depending on a direct current (DC) current flowing from the first terminal to the second terminal. The equivalent circuit may be an equivalent circuit of an inductor connected between opposite terminals of an inductor device. 
     According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a server may store a file including an equivalent circuit, accessible to a user terminal. The equivalent circuit having a first terminal and a second terminal may include: a first inductor; and a first functional module connected to the first inductor and adjusting an inductance of the first inductor depending on a DC current flowing from the first terminal to the second terminal. The equivalent circuit maybe an equivalent circuit of an inductor connected between opposite terminals of an inductor device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating a system including a server for providing an equivalent circuit of an inductor according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a circuit diagram illustrating an equivalent circuit of an inductor according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating an example of a functional module of the equivalent circuit of the inductor according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic perspective view illustrating a coupled power inductor; and 
         FIG. 5  is a circuit diagram illustrating an equivalent circuit of a coupled power inductor according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating a system including a server for providing an equivalent circuit of an inductor according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure. 
     A server  2  may include a storage device  1 , and may provide an equivalent circuit of an inductor stored in the storage device  1  to a user terminal  3  when it receives a request for provision of the equivalent circuit of the inductor from the user terminal  3 . To this end, the user terminal  3  may access the server  2  in a wired or wireless manner. 
     A user may receive the equivalent circuit of the inductor using the user terminal  3 , and may perform a simulation on various circuits including the inductor, using the received equivalent circuit of the inductor. The user terminal  3  may include a personal computer, a server computer, a handheld or laptop device, a mobile device (a mobile phone, a personal digital assistants (PDA), a media player, or the like), a multiprocessor system, a consumer electronic device, a mini computer, a mainframe computer, a distributed computing environment including any system or device described above, and the like, but is not limited thereto. 
     According to the exemplary embodiment, the equivalent circuit of the inductor may be a file implemented using computer readable programming languages. In addition, the equivalent circuit of the inductor may be a set of programming languages. In addition, the equivalent circuit of the inductor implemented by the file (that is, the set of programming languages) may be stored in the storage device  1  included in the server  2 , as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The storage device  1  may be amass storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD). 
     A case in which the equivalent circuit of the inductor is stored in the storage device  1  included in the server  2  is illustrated in  FIG. 1 , but according to the exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, the storage device having the equivalent circuit of the inductor stored therein is not particularly limited. That is, various storage devices such as an optical disk or a portable storage device, for example, a universal serial bus (USB) memory, and the like, maybe the storage device having the equivalent circuit of the inductor stored therein according to the exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure. 
     Although not illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the user terminal  3  may include a processing unit and a memory. The processing unit may include, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphic processing unit (GPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or the like, and have a plurality of cores. The memory may be a volatile memory (for example, a random access memory (RAM), or the like), a non-volatile memory (for example, a read only memory (ROM), a flash memory, or the like), or a combination thereof. The equivalent circuit of the inductor received from the server  2  may be loaded in the memory in order to be executed by the processing unit. In this case, a program for simulating a circuit including the inductor may also be loaded into the memory. 
     Although not illustrated, the user terminal  3  may include a communications connection (communications connections) enabling a computing device to communicate with another device (for example, a computing device). Here, the communications connection (connections) may include a modem, a network interface card (NIC), an integrated network interface, a radio frequency transmitter/receiver, an infrared port, a universal serial bus (USB) connection, or another interface for connecting the computing device to another computing device. In addition, the communications connection (connections) may include a wired connection or a wireless connection. 
     In addition, as described above, according to the exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure, the storage device having the equivalent circuit of the inductor stored therein may be the portable storage device. In this case, the user terminal may be connected to the portable storage device by various interconnections (for example a peripheral component interconnection (PCI), a USB, firmware (IEEE 1394), an optical bus structure, and the like). 
     Terms “component”, “module”, and the like, used in the present specification generally refer to a computer related entity, which is hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software that is being executed. For example, the module may be a process that is being executed on a processor, the processor, an object, an executable structure, an executing thread, a program and/or a computer, but is not limited thereto. For example, both of an application that is being driven on a controller and the controller may be a component. One or more components may exist in the process and/or the executing thread, and the component may be localized on one computer or be distributed between two or more computers. 
       FIG. 2  is a circuit diagram illustrating an equivalent circuit of an inductor according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure. In  FIG. 2 , NT 1  and NT 2  refer to both terminals of the inductor. 
     The equivalent circuit of the inductor according to the exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure may include a first resistor R 1  connected between a first terminal NT 1  and a first node N 1 , a first variable inductance module  11  connected between the first node N 1  and a second node N 2 , a second variable inductance module  12  connected between the second node N 2  and a third node N 3 , a third variable inductance module  13  connected between the third node N 3  and a fourth node N 4 , a fourth variable inductance module  14  connected between the fourth node N 4  and a second terminal NT 2 , a second resistor R 2  connected to the second variable inductance module  12  in parallel, a third resistor R 3  connected to the third variable inductance module  13  in parallel, a fourth resistor R 4  connected to the fourth variable inductance module  14  in parallel, and a capacitor C 1  and a fifth resistor R 5  disposed between the first terminal NT 1  and the second terminal NT 2  and connected to each other in series. Although in the exemplary embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , the capacitor C 1  and the fifth resistor R 5  are connected to each other in series between the first terminal NT 1  and the second terminal NT 2 , the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively and/or optionally, the capacitor C 1  and the fifth resistor R 5  may be connected in parallel between the first terminal NT 1  and the second terminal NT 2 . 
     The first variable inductance module  11  may include a first functional module F 1  and a first inductor L 1 , the second variable inductance module  12  may include a second functional module F 2  and a second inductor L 2 , the third variable inductance module  13  may include a third functional module F 3  and a third inductor L 3 , and the fourth variable inductance module  14  may include a fourth functional module F 4  and a fourth inductor L 4 . 
     A total sum of inductances of the first inductor L 1 , the second inductor L 2 , the third inductor L 3 , and the fourth inductor L 4  may be set to be the same as an inductance of an inductor that is to be represented by an equivalent circuit. For example, when an inductor having an inductance of 4 μF is represented as an equivalent circuit, inductances of the first inductor L 1 , the second inductor L 2 , the third inductor L 3 , and the fourth inductor L 4  may be set to 2 μF, 1μ, 0.5μ, and 0.5 μF, respectively. 
     The first variable inductance module  11 , the second variable inductance module  12 , the third variable inductance module  13 , and the fourth variable inductance module  14  may serve as inductors having inductances determined depending on magnitudes of direct current (DC) currents flowing to an inductor that is to be represented as an equivalent circuit. 
     That is, the first functional module F 1  may serve to be replaced by an inductor having an inductance determined to be the product of a coefficient determined depending on a magnitude of a DC current flowing to the inductor that is to be represented as the equivalent circuit by the first variable inductance module  11  and the inductance of the first inductor L 1 . The second functional module F 2  may serve to be replaced by an inductor having an inductance determined to be the product of a coefficient determined depending on a magnitude of a DC current flowing to the inductor that is to be represented the an equivalent circuit by the second variable inductance module  12  and the inductance of the second inductor L 2 . The third functional module F 3  may serve to be replaced by an inductor having an inductance determined to be the product of a coefficient determined depending on a magnitude of a DC current flowing to the inductor that is to be represented as the equivalent circuit by the third variable inductance module  13  and the inductance of the third inductor L 3 . The fourth functional module F 4  may serve to be replaced by an inductor having an inductance determined to be the product of a coefficient determined depending on a magnitude of a DC current flowing to the inductor that is to be represented as the equivalent circuit by the fourth variable inductance module  14  and the inductance of the fourth inductor L 4 . 
     Resistances of the first resistor R 1 , the second resistor R 2 , the third resistor R 3 , the fourth resistor R 4 , the fifth resistor R 5 , and a capacitance of the capacitor C 1  may be determined depending on physical characteristics, frequency characteristics, and the like, of the inductor that is to be represented as the equivalent circuit. 
     In addition, the second variable inductance module  12 , the third variable inductance module  13 , and the fourth variable inductance module  14  may be used to reflect the frequency characteristics of the inductor that is to be represented as the equivalent circuit as well as reflect DC bias characteristics of the inductor that is to be represented by the equivalent circuit. 
     A case in which four variable inductance modules are used is illustrated in  FIG. 2 , but the number of variable inductance modules may be determined as needed. The circuit between the terminals NT 1  and NT 2  shown in  FIG. 2  may be equivalent to an inductor embedded in a body of an inductor device between two terminals disposed on exterior surfaces of the body and connected to opposite ends of the inductor. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating an example of a first variable inductance module of the equivalent circuit of the inductor according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Terminals a, b, c, and d of  FIG. 3  refer to the same terminals as the terminals a, b, c, and d of the first functional module F 1  of  FIG. 2 . That is, the terminal a may be an input terminal of the first functional module F 1 , the terminal b may be a terminal connected to one end of the first inductor L 1 , the terminal c may be a terminal connected to the other end of the first inductor L 1 , and the terminal d may be an output terminal of the first functional module F 1 . 
     The first functional module F 1  may be implemented in a form in which it invokes a specific function. In detail, the first functional module F 1  may serve to determine a predetermined coefficient depending on a DC current flowing through the first terminal NT 1  and the second terminal NT 2 . For example, the first functional module F 1  may return the coefficient determined depending on a value of the DC current with reference to a table in which values of currents and coefficients corresponding to the values of the currents are stored. 
     Each of a first sub-module  111 , a second sub-module  112 , a third sub-module  113 , a fourth sub-module  114 , and a fifth sub-module  115  may be implemented by a predetermined function (or a command or a library) or a plurality of functions (or a plurality of commands or a plurality of libraries). The predetermined function (or command or library) may include information on characteristics of another electronic component or device or a combination of other electronic components or devices. The electronic component or device may be a switch, a transistor, a diode, a resistor, an inductor, a capacitor, a current source, a voltage source, a voltage-to-current converter, or a current-to-voltage converter, although the present disclosure is not limited thereto. 
     The first sub-module  111  may output DC current information, which is information on a DC current flowing from the first terminal NT 1  (see  FIG. 2 ) to the second terminal NT 2  (see FIG.  2 ). The first sub-module  111  may convert the DC current information into a voltage value and output the voltage value. 
     The second sub-module  112  may output an absolute value of the DC current information. 
     The third sub-module  113  may output a coefficient determined depending on the absolute value of the DC current information. The third sub-module  113  may output a coefficient that is decreased as the absolute value of the DC current information is increased. For example, the third sub-module  113  may output 1 when the absolute value of the DC current information is 0, output 0.8 when the absolute value of the DC current information is 1, and output 0.7 when the absolute value of the DC current information is 2. The third sub-module  113  may include a lookup table, or the like, and output the coefficient with reference to the lookup table. 
     For example, the lookup table may be the same as the following Table 1. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 DC Current 
                 Coefficient 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 0 
                 1 
               
               
                   
                 1 
                 0.8 
               
               
                   
                 2 
                 0.7 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The third sub-module  113  may also calculate the coefficient on the basis of the lookup table. For example, when the absolute value of the DC current information is 1.5, the third sub-module  113  may calculate that the coefficient is 0.75. 
     The fourth sub-module  114  may output information on an inductance of the first inductor L 1  connected between the terminal b and the terminal c. For example, the fourth sub-module  114  may allow a current currently flowing from the terminal a to the terminal d to flow from the terminal b to the terminal c to allow a voltage of the terminal c to be a voltage determined by the inductance of the first inductor L 1  and output the voltage of the terminal c. 
     The fifth sub-module  115  may multiply an output value of the fourth sub-module  114  by an output value of the third sub-module  113  and output a result obtained by the multiplication. For example, the fifth sub-module  115  may output a voltage obtained by a voltage applied across the first inductor L 1  by the current currently flowing from the terminal a to the terminal d by the coefficient output from the third sub-module  113 . Resultantly, the first functional module F 1  may allow the same voltage-current characteristics as those of a case in which an inductor having an inductance obtained by multiplying the inductance of the first inductor L 1  by the coefficient output from the third sub-module  113  is connected between the terminal a and the terminal d to appear between the terminal a and the terminal d. 
     Each of the second to fourth functional modules F 2  to F 4  may be configured in a similar manner as the first functional module F 1  shown in  FIG. 3 , although parameters thereof may be different from those of the first functional module F 1 . 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic perspective view illustrating a coupled power inductor. 
     The coupled power inductor may include two inductors L 10  and L 20  magnetically coupled to each other. 
     A first inductor L 10  may be connected between a terminal NT 11  and a terminal NT 12 , and a second inductor L 20  may be connected between a terminal NT 21  and a terminal NT 22 . 
       FIG. 5  is a circuit diagram illustrating an equivalent circuit of a coupled power inductor according to an exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure. 
     The equivalent circuit of the coupled power inductor according to the exemplary embodiment in the present disclosure may include a first resistor R 1  connected between the terminal NT 11  and a first node N 11 , a first variable inductance module connected between the first node N 11  and a second node N 12  and including a functional module F 11  and an inductor L 11 , a second variable inductance module connected between the second node N 12  and a third node N 13  and including a functional module F 12  and an inductor L 12 , a third variable inductance module connected between the third node N 13  and a fourth node N 14  and including a functional module F 13  and an inductor L 13 , a fourth variable inductance module connected between the fourth node N 14  and the terminal NT 12  and including a functional module F 14  and an inductor L 14 , a second resistor R 12  connected to the second variable inductance module in parallel, a third resistor R 13  connected to the third variable inductance module in parallel, a fourth resistor R 14  connected to the fourth variable inductance module in parallel, a capacitor C 11  and a fifth resistor R 15  disposed between the terminal NT 11  and the terminal NT 12  and connected to each other in parallel, a sixth resistor R 21  connected between the terminal NT 21  and a fifth node N 21 , a fifth variable inductance module connected between the fifth node N 21  and a sixth node N 22  and including a functional module F 21  and an inductor L 21 , a sixth variable inductance module connected between the sixth node N 22  and a seventh node N 23  and including a functional module F 22  and an inductor L 22 , a seventh variable inductance module connected between the seventh node N 23  and an eighth node N 24  and including a functional module F 23  and an inductor L 23 , an eighth variable inductance module connected between the eighth node N 24  and the terminal NT 22  and including a functional module F 24  and an inductor L 24 , a seventh resistor R 22  connected to the sixth variable inductance module in parallel, an eight resistor R 23  connected to the seventh variable inductance module in parallel, a ninth resistor R 24  connected to the eight variable inductance module in parallel, and a capacitor C 21  and a tenth resistor R 25  disposed between the terminal NT 21  and the terminal NT 22  and connected to each other in parallel. In this case, the circuit between the terminals NT 11  and NT 12  shown in  FIG. 5  may be equivalent to the first inductor L 10  shown in  FIG. 4 , the circuit between the terminals NT 21  and NT 22  shown in  FIG. 5  may be equivalent to the second inductor L 20  shown in  FIG. 4 , and a combination of magnetic coupling between the inductors in the circuit between the terminals NT 11  and NT 12  and magnetic coupling between the inductors in the circuit between the terminals NT 21  and NT 22  may be equivalent to magnetic coupling between the first inductor L 10  and the second inductor L 20  shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     A total sum of inductances of the inductors L 11 , L 12 , L 13 , and L 14  may be set to be the same as an inductance of the first inductor L 10  of  FIG. 4 . In addition, a total sum of inductances of the inductors L 21 , L 22 , L 23 , and L 24  may be set to be the same as an inductance of the second inductor L 20  of  FIG. 4 . A coupling coefficient between the inductors L 11  and L 21 , a coupling coefficient between the inductors L 12  and L 22 , a coupling coefficient between the inductors L 13  and L 23 , and a coupling coefficient between the inductors L 14  and L 24  may be set based on a coupling coefficient between the first and second inductors L 10  and L 20 . For example, a total sum of the coupling coefficient between the inductors L 11  and L 21 , the coupling coefficient between the inductors L 12  and L 22 , the coupling coefficient between the inductors L 13  and L 23 , and the coupling coefficient between the inductors L 14  and L 24  may be set the same as the coupling coefficient between the first and second inductors L 10  and L 20 . 
     The variable inductance modules described above may serve as inductors having inductances determined depending on magnitudes of DC currents flowing to an inductor that is to be represented as an equivalent circuit. Functions of the variable inductance modules, particularly, functions of the functional modules F 11 , F 12 , F 13 , F 14 , F 21 , F 22 , F 23 , and F 24  included in the variable inductance modules may be easily understood with reference to a description for  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
     Magnitudes of the resistors R 11 , R 12 , R 13 , R 14 , R 15 , R 21 , R 22 , R 23 , R 24 , and R 25  and the capacitors C 11  and C 12  may be determined depending on physical characteristics, frequency characteristics, and the like, of the coupled power inductor illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     As set forth above, according to the storage device having an equivalent circuit of an inductor for a simulation stored therein and the server for providing an equivalent circuit of an inductor, DC bias characteristics as well as frequency characteristics may be accurately reflected at the time of the simulation, such that the simulation may be more accurately performed. 
     While exemplary embodiments have been shown and described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations could be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.