Patent Abstract:
Various embodiments of the invention reduce switching losses associated with existing non-zero volt switching and non-zero current switching in DC/DC converters without the need for a resonant design. Certain embodiments of the invention provide for improved efficiency by reducing switching losses related to the simultaneous presence of current and voltage across high power switching devices. In certain embodiments, this is accomplished by adding a relatively small inductor and two switching elements to various switching regulator topologies. Energy stored in the inductor is used to transition the output of the switching converter to achieve zero volt switching and zero current switching.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    A. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to inductive switching converters and, more particularly, to systems, devices, and methods of utilizing zero-current and zero-voltage switching to reduce transition losses in DC/DC converters. 
         [0003]    B. Background of the Invention 
         [0004]    The electronics industry has continually demanded higher switching regulator efficiencies. Switching regulators transfer energy from a given input voltage level to a higher or lower output voltage level for delivery to a load. Inductive switching converters take advantage of in important physical property of inductors, the resistance to any changes to the current the inductor carries, in order to transform an input voltage to a desired output voltage. The level of the output voltage is adjusted by controlling the operation of active switching elements within the switching regulator. 
         [0005]    Typical efficiencies of DC/DC converters have reached about 96%, such that a reduction of power losses by an additional one or two percent can reduce existing power losses by as much as 50%. Aside from conduction losses in the turned on active devices, which are typically transistor power switches, one major source of power dissipation in switching regulators are transition losses. There are two types of transition losses that occur during the switching process, the first type is capacitive loss resulting from charging and discharging a parasitic capacitance at the switching node of the converter. The second type of transition loss is conduction loss associated with turning on a power switch having a large voltage and non-zero inductor current present at the same time. This second type of transition loss is exacerbated by reverse recovery current in the power switch due to the body diode in the switch being forward biased. 
         [0006]    Some existing approaches reduce switching power losses by avoiding transitions from a low voltage to a high voltage by applying zero voltage switching (ZVS) or zero current switching (ZCS) methods. In order to perform ZVS, by definition, the voltage across a switch needs to be at a near zero value at the time the switch is being turned on. However, existing ZVS or ZCS topologies have major drawbacks. For example, ZVS or ZCS buck converter topologies require (lossy) discontinuous current mode operation with average inductor current values that have to be approximately two times larger than the output current, as the inductor needs to reach zero for the switching regulator to actually perform ZVS or ZCS. A 10 A output current, for example, typically requires a 20 A peak current. Existing ZVS or ZCS topologies, by definition, require an inductor current that approaches zero, thus, conduction losses are typically more than twice as high as in continuous current buck converters that have very low ripple content. Alternative approaches address this problem by either employing resonant or critical conduction topologies. However, these approaches create more problems than they solve and do not result in higher system efficiency at higher ripple currents due to increased conduction losses associated with resonant or critical conduction topologies. What is needed are tools for switching regulator designers to overcome the above-described limitations. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Embodiments of the invention effectively eliminate losses associated with hard switching of power MOSFETs in various switching regulator topologies utilizing continuous current converter switching. Certain embodiments of the invention provide for reduced transition losses by employing a novel ZVS method that allows either voltage transitions to occur without activating the power MOSFET switch; a novel type of ZCS switching that allows current in a power MOSFET switch to be near zero prior to activating the switch, thereby, removing the loss factor of current in the switch while transitioning when voltage is present across the switch; and a novel type of switching that, herein, is referred to as Negative Current Switching (NCS), which terminology is not common to those skilled in the art. NCS allows for further reduction of switching losses by switching at a time when the current is flowing in the same direction that the switch is trying to move a voltage node coupled to the switch. 
         [0008]    Certain embodiments of the invention allow to eliminate losses associated with body diode reverse recovery current in power MOSFET body diodes, thereby, eliminating the need for additional, fairly complex circuitry to minimize body diode reverse recovery currents. 
         [0009]    In particular, in certain embodiments, zero volt switching and zero current switching is accomplished by adding a relatively low value inductor in series with a higher value inductor within a switching regulator; adding two switching devices to the output path; and timing all switching devices in a manner such as to cause the stored energy in the low value inductor to enable ZCS, NCS or transition the output node from one voltage to another voltage without power losses otherwise associated with resistive switches. In some embodiments, one high-side switch is operated to perform ZVS, while a second high-side switch is operated to selectively perform one of ZVS, NCS, or ZCS. 
         [0010]    Certain features and advantages of the present invention have been generally described here; however, additional features, advantages, and embodiments presented herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims hereof. Accordingly, it should be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited by the particular embodiments disclosed in this summary section. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in the accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments. 
           [0012]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic of a prior art buck converter. 
           [0013]      FIG. 1B  illustrates a typical prior art timing diagram for the prior art buck converter of  FIG. 1A . 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a schematic of an illustrative buck converter circuit utilizing, zero current switching, or negative current switching, according to various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  illustrates an idealized version of a typical timing diagram for the buck converter circuit in  FIG. 2 , according to various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4A  through  FIG. 4E  illustrate exemplary current distributions between two series inductors of the buck converter circuit in  FIG. 2 , according to various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  shows a partial view of timing diagram in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of an illustrative process for zero volt switching, zero current switching, or negative current switching, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a schematic of an illustrative boost converter circuit utilizing zero volt switching, zero current switching, or negative current switching, according to various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 8  illustrates a typical timing diagram for the boost converter circuit in  FIG. 7 , according to various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 9  is a schematic of an illustrative buck-boost converter circuit utilizing zero volt switching, zero current switching, or negative current switching, according to various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 10  illustrates a typical timing diagram for the buck-boost circuit in  FIG. 9 , according to various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0023]      FIG. 11  illustrates a typical timing diagram for the buck circuit in  FIG. 2 , utilizing zero voltage switching and zero current switching, according to various embodiments of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0024]    In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these details. One skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments of the present invention, described below, may be performed in a variety of ways and using a variety of means. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that additional modifications, applications, and embodiments are within the scope thereof, as are additional fields in which the invention may provide utility. Accordingly, the embodiments described below are illustrative of specific embodiments of the invention and are meant to avoid obscuring the invention. 
         [0025]    Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, characteristic, or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearance of the phrase “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” or the like in various places in the specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. 
         [0026]    Furthermore, connections between components or between method steps in the figures are not restricted to connections that are affected directly. Instead, connections illustrated in the figures between components or method steps may be modified or otherwise changed through the addition thereto of intermediary components or method steps, without departing from the teachings of the present invention. 
         [0027]    In this document the term “inductor” refers to any inductive element capable of storing magnetic energy, the term “capacitor” refers to any capacitive element capable of storing electric energy recognized by one of skilled in the art, and the term “switch” refers to any type of switching device recognized by one of skilled in the art. It is noted that timing diagrams herein are not drawn to scale and gate voltages are drawn relative to gate to source voltages and represent merely qualitative transitions between on and off states. Switches and their gate potentials are sometimes referred to interchangeably. Although only a selected number of circuit designs are shown and discussed, it is envisioned that the invention applies equally to other switching regulator topologies, such as forward converters, two-switch H-bridges, four-switch forward converters, etc. It is further noted that all references to ZCS equally applicable to NCS. 
         [0028]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic of a prior art buck converter. Buck converter  100  is a step-down converter that is commonly used whenever the input voltage is greater than a desired load voltage. Buck converter  100  comprises voltage input terminal  102 , high-side switch DH  104 , low-side switch DL  106 , inductor  110 , and output capacitor C OUT    114 . High-side switch DH  104 , low-side switch DL  106 , and inductor  110 , are coupled to each other via voltage node LX  108 . Since switching processes in buck converter  100  generate unwanted AC ripple noise, output capacitor C OUT    114  is placed at the output, such that output capacitor C OUT    114  and inductor  110  form a low-pass filter that functions to remove the noise from the output terminal V OUT    112  of buck converter  100  in order to obtain a DC voltage at the load that is coupled to the output terminal V OUT    112 . The inductance value of inductor L  110  and capacitance value C OUT  of output capacitor C OUT    114  are chosen to limit the ripple on V OUT    112  to an acceptable range that is determined by the requirements of the load and the feedback of buck regulator  100 . 
         [0029]    Control circuitry (not shown) controls the current flowing through inductor  110  by controlling the on time and off times of switches  104 ,  106 , for example, via a PWM controller. The signal at output terminal V OUT    112  is typically fed back to an input of the PWM controller to adjust the V OUT  accordingly. 
         [0030]    As will be explained next, during switching events, switch  104  dissipates power due to the presence of current and voltage across it during the entire time the voltage at node LX  108  rises from a ground potential to the supply voltage V IN    102 . In addition, a low-side body diode reverse recovery current causes losses within an intrinsic diode in switch  104  and large supply current spikes due to the sequence in which switches  104  and  106  are turned on and off in continuous mode. Therefore, in addition to dissipating heat caused by switching, buck converter  100  dissipates heat in the diode itself. 
         [0031]      FIG. 1B  illustrates a typical prior art timing diagram for the prior art buck converter of  FIG. 1A . In such conventional buck converters, high-side switch  156  turns off at time t1  160 , which causes the voltage at node LX  154  to decrease toward zero, and inductor current I L    152  to decrease relatively slowly. A short time after the voltage at node LX  154  reaches zero, at time t2  170 , low-side switch  158  is turned on. Since the voltage at node LX  154  is already near zero, low-side switch  158  switches with zero voltage due to the nature of the buck converter. 
         [0032]    However, at the end of the “off time” of high-side switch  156 , at time t4  190 , when the output node of the switching regulator switches from a low state to a high state, high-side switch  156  turns on with a positive current I DH    151  that is equal to inductor current I L    152 , while node LX  154  is still at ground potential. During this transition that high-side switch  156  turns on, current I DH    151  (typically the average output current) flows through the inductor and high-side switch  156  between t4  190  and time t5  192 . As a result, switch  156  dissipates power due to the presence of current and voltage across it at the same time. This unnecessarily causes power dissipation in switch  156 . Therefore, in order to increase efficiency and avoid switching losses associated with hard switching of high-side power MOSFETs, it would be desirable to have transitions occur without having voltage and current applied to power MOSFET switches at the same time. 
         [0033]      FIG. 2  is a schematic of an illustrative buck converter circuit utilizing zero volt switching, zero current switching, or negative current switching, according to various embodiments of the invention. Buck converter  200  comprises high-side switches DHA  202  and DHB  206 , low-side switches DLA  204  and DLB  208 , inductor  210 , inductor  232 , voltage input terminal  216 , and output capacitor C OUT    234 . High-side switch DHA  202  and low-side switch DLA  204  are coupled to each other at voltage node LXA  230 , while high-side switch DHB  206  and low-side switch DLB  208  are coupled to each other at voltage node LXB  220 . Inductor L1  232  and inductor L2  210  are coupled in a series configuration and comprise a common voltage node, here, LXA  230 . Output capacitor C OUT    234  is coupled to output terminal  240  and inductor L1  232 . 
         [0034]    In one embodiment, inductor  210  is an inductive element that has an inductance value that is sufficiently low so as to be implemented into the lead-frame or a PCB trace coupled to buck converter  200 . This reduces complexity of the inductor design as well as cost. The inductance of inductor  210  may be 20 nH or, for example, 10% of the inductance value of inductor  232 . Switches DHA  202  and DLA  204  may be designed 1/10th of the size of switching devices DHB  206  and DLB  208 , respectively. In one embodiment, low-side switches DLA  204  and DLB  208  may be implemented as Schottky diodes. Next, it will be explained how buck converter  200  is operated in such a manner that the energy stored in inductor  210  can be used to enable zero current switching or zero voltage switching of LXA  230  and LXB  220 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  illustrates an idealized version of a typical timing diagram for the buck converter circuit shown in  FIG. 2 . Timing diagram  300  shows exemplary inductor currents I L1    302 , I L2    304  and node voltages LXB  306  and LXA  308  as well as logic levels of gates  310 - 316 . In one embodiment, as shown in example in  FIG. 3 , at time t1  320 , currents I L1    302  and I L2    304  through inductors L1 and L2 (not shown), respectively, are about equal (e.g., 15 A). High-side switch DHB  312  on node LXB  306  is turned off first and then low-side switches DLA  314  and DLB  316  are turned on, and high-side switch DHA  310  on node LXA  308  remains turned off. As a result, switches DLA  314  and DLB  316  short to ground both terminals of the inductor carrying I L2    304  and cause significantly constant circulating currents to flow in inductor L2 as the voltage though inductor L2 and, thus, di/dt equals zero. In other words, during the off time of high-side switch DHA  314 , the shorting to ground both sides of the smaller inductor causes the current in the smaller inductor to reduce only relatively slightly (e.g., from 15 A to 14.5 A) while the voltage across the inductor is approximately zero. 
         [0036]    In contrast, since only one node of the inductor L1 is grounded, this allows current I L1    302  to continuously decrease by an amount representative of the system ripple (e.g., from 15 A to 12 A), such that toward the end of the off time of high-side switch DHA  310 , at time t2 330 , the smaller inductor L2 carries a greater current I L2    304  (e.g., 14.5 A) than the larger inductor L1 (e.g., 12 A). Once common node LXA  308  between the two inductors is released by turning off low-side switch DLA  314 , due to the energy stored in the smaller inductor, the voltage at node LXA  308  automatically rises, for example, to a top rail voltage, i.e., to the supply voltage applied to the buck converter. In other words, by opening switch DLA  314 , current I L2    304  in the inductor L2 forces the voltage on node LXA  308  to rise. 
         [0037]    When the voltage at voltage node LXA  308  reaches the top rail voltage, here V IN , high-side switch DHA  310  is turned on without any voltage across it, i.e., with zero volt switching. Since the voltage on node LXA  308  reaches the top rail voltage without turning on any switch that has voltage and current present at the same time, zero voltage switching is achieved and switching losses are avoided. After time t2 330 , current I L2    304  in the inductor L2 rapidly diminishes to 0 A or below. 
         [0038]    In one embodiment, once current I L2    304  reaches zero at time t4  350 , the status of switch DLB  316  changes from closed to open. This couples the input voltage to output voltage via the inductor L1  232 , which allows node LXB  306  to rise and reach a value equal to the top rail voltage at time t5  360 . Since the voltage on node LXB  306  rises before switch DHB  312  is turned on at time t5  360 , the transition of switch DHB  312  occurs without any voltage drop or current present. As a result, zero-volt switching is achieved also on switch DHB  312  and switching losses are successfully avoided. After switch DHB  312  is turned on, switch DHA  310  is turned off allowing node LXA  308  to fall due to the imbalance of the currents in the two inductors. In one embodiment, prior to LXB  306  rising another method of implementing this invention would be to turn on DHB  312  while LXB is near ground and force ZCS or NCS. 
         [0039]    At time t6  370 , once current I L2    304  reaches the same value as current I L1    302  (e.g., 12.5 A), the voltage at node LXA  308  increases to a value that is slightly lower than the voltage at node LXB  306 . At this time the two inductors are in series with the output and the current flowing through both inductors ramps up while delivering increasing current to the output. At time t7  380 , switch DHB  312  turns off, opening the direct current path from the input of the buck converter through the series inductors to the output. Turning on low-side switches DLA  314  and DLB  316  allows both node voltages LXA  308  and LXB  306  to fall to ground. After LXB  306  falls below ground and then forward biases the body diode of switch DLB  316 , DLB  316  and DLA  314  turn on shorting out the inductor L2. Current I L2    304  remains relatively constant while current I L1    302  starts to decrease, such that both currents begin to drift apart again and being the cycle anew. 
         [0040]    In one embodiment, not shown in  FIG. 3 , LXB  306  transitions high when DHB  312  turns on and employs ZCS instead of ZVS. At time t4  340 , switch DHB  312  is turned on and the switching of node LXB  306  employs ZCS as the sum of the currents in both inductors is greater than or equal to zero. In this ZCS example, switching is NCS since the sum of the currents is negative (e.g., 12 A-14.5 A=−2.5 A). NCS does provide the benefits of ZCS even if switching does not occur exactly at zero current. Switch DHB  312  charges an intrinsic parasitic capacitance with a parasitic current and carries load current I L1    302  during the transition. The negative current I L2    304  subtracts from the parasitic current associated with charging and discharging parasitic capacitances. However, overall system losses are not necessarily reduced by the additional reduction of losses in the switch using NCS since current I L2    304  and the parasitic current do not entirely cancel each other because the amount of energy required to enable negative current switching to turn the parasitic current negative is equal to the reduction of losses gained from charging or discharging of the parasitic capacitance. Therefore, the reduction in losses employing NCS and ZCS are substantially equal. 
         [0041]    It is noted that any level shifting voltages have been excluded from  FIG. 3  and other timing diagrams herein. Gate voltages  310 - 316  represent qualitative transitions between the on and off state of each switch. Since the timing diagram is not drawn to scale, currents I L1    302  and I L2    304  appear different in the between times t6  370  and t8  390  but in fact are equal. In practice, current I L2    304  may transition to a relatively large negative value. For example, current  304  may reach a negative value that has an amplitude equal to its positive amplitude. Current I L2    304  may assume any value that is suitable to cause voltage node LXB  306  to rise. 
         [0042]    One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that absolute values can be manipulated, for example, via level shifting devices. It is understood that additional circuit components, such as noise suppression elements or controllers, such as a duty cycle controller, are employed to aid in the operation of the invention. One skilled in the art will also appreciate that a controller may control the output voltage with various methods, including duty cycle control and frequency control of high-side switches and low-side switches. 
         [0043]      FIG. 4A  through  FIG. 4E  illustrate exemplary current distributions between two series inductors of the buck converter circuit in  FIG. 2 , according to various embodiments of the invention. The schematics show various conditions that buck converter  402  assumes. Arrows  410  indicate how the conditions align with the timing diagram in  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  shows a partial view of timing diagram in  FIG. 3 . For purposes of clarity, only the timing events for the currents and gate voltages are shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of an illustrative process to perform zero volt switching, zero current switching, or negative current switching, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. The process starts at step  601  when two inductors L1 and L2 that are coupled in a series configuration are provided. Each inductor comprises an inductance value that is typically different from the other. 
         [0045]    At step  602 , a second high-side switch is turned on to establish a relatively equal current in both inductors. 
         [0046]    At step  603 , the second high-side switch is turned off, for example, in response to a control loop that regulates the output voltage. 
         [0047]    At step  604 , both low side switches are turned on this in affect inductor L2 is short circuited, for example, via ground in order to maintain a relatively constant current flow through inductor L2. 
         [0048]    At step  606 , a first low-side switch is turned off, for example, in response to a control loop that regulates an output voltage. 
         [0049]    At step  608 , a first high-side switch is turned on, for example, in response to a voltage at one terminal of the first high-side switch reaching an input voltage, thereby, making the switching event a zero-voltage switching. 
         [0050]    Finally, at step  610 , a second low-side switch is turned off enabling zero current or zero voltage switching, and then the loop continues by going back to step  602   
         [0051]    It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that fewer or additional steps may be incorporated with the steps illustrated herein without departing from the scope of the invention. No particular order is implied by the arrangement of blocks within the flowchart or the description herein. 
         [0052]      FIG. 7  is a schematic of an illustrative boost converter circuit utilizing zero volt switching, zero current switching, or negative current switching, according to various embodiments of the invention. Boost converter  700  is a step-up converter that is commonly used whenever the input voltage is lower than the desired load voltage. Boost converter  700  comprises high-side switches DHA  706  and DHB  702 , low-side switches DLA  708  and DLB  704 , inductor  710 , input terminal  716 , output terminal  740 , and output capacitor C OUT    734 . High-side switch DHA  706  and low-side switch DLA  708  are coupled to each other at voltage node LXA  720 , while high-side switch DHB  702  and low-side switch DLB  704  are coupled to each other at voltage node LXB  730 . Inductor L1  732  is coupled to input terminal  716 . Output capacitor C OUT    734  is coupled to output terminal  740 . Inductor L1  732  and inductor L2  710  are coupled in a series configuration and comprise common voltage node LXA  230 . In one embodiment, high-side switches DHA  706  and DHB  702  may be implemented as Schottky diodes. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that in boost converter  700  voltages on nodes LXA  720  and LXB  730  are higher than the voltage at input terminal  716 . 
         [0053]      FIG. 8  illustrates a typical timing diagram for the boost converter circuit in  FIG. 7 , according to various embodiments of the invention.  FIG. 8  illustrates a more realistic timing diagram than the timing diagram in  FIG. 3 . Timing diagram  800  shows exemplary inductor currents I L1    802 , I L2    804 , LXB  806 , and LXA  808 , and gate voltages  810 - 816 . Various glitches, such as glitch  818  that occurs on LXA  808  and LXB  806  just before time t1  820  result from the effect of turning off a current flowing in an inductor with a switch. Since the body diodes stop the current in the inductor from continuing to flow, the current can only reach one body diode voltage above the input voltage V IN  or one body diode voltage below ground potential (typically 0 V). 
         [0054]    Prior to the transition at time t1  820 , the only switch active between the input voltage V IN  and ground potential is switch DLB  816 , such that the only connection between V IN  and ground is switch DLB  816  and inductors L1 and L2 (not shown). Currents I L1    802  and I L2    804  through inductors L1 and L2 are substantially equal when at time t1  820  low-side switch DLB  816  on node LXB  806  is turned off, both high-side switches DHA  810  and DHB  812  are turned on simultaneously, and high-side switch DHA  810  on node LXA  808  remains turned off. As a result, switches DHA  810  and DHB  812  short the inductor carrying I L2    804  and cause significantly constant circulating currents to flow in inductor L2, while I L1    802  decreases relatively rapidly. Note that as before, I L1    802  is only a ripple current and is not drawn to the same scale as I L2    804 . 
         [0055]    Next, at time t2  830 , switch DHA  810  is turned off, i.e., node LXA  808  between the two inductors L1 and L2 is turned off. Since current I L2    804  in the smaller inductor is larger than current I L1    802  in the larger inductor L1, inductor L2 transitions the energy stored in the smaller inductor to the parasitic capacitance on node LXB and forces the voltage at node LXA  808  below ground. When the voltage at voltage node LXA  808  reaches zero, low-side switch DLA  814  is turned on at time t3  840  without any voltage across it, i.e., with zero volt switching. Since the voltage on node LXA  808  reaches the fall to zero without turning on any switch that has either a voltage or a current present at the same time, zero voltage switching is achieved and switching losses are successfully avoided. 
         [0056]    In one embodiment, when switch DHA  810  is turned on at time t5  860 , ZCS or NCS is employed since the current in the two inductors cause I L2    804  to be equal or less than zero. ZCS and NCS provide comparable efficiency savings when compared to ZVS, because the power loss in inductor L1 resulting from NCS is similar to the power loss resulting from the transition with ZCS. 
         [0057]    As in the buck configuration, after time t2  830 , current I L2    804  in the inductor L2 rapidly diminishes to 0 A or below. Once current I L2    804  reaches zero, at time t4  850 , the status of switch DHB  812  is allowed to change from closed to open after which time the voltage on LXB  806  decays relatively little, until, at time t5  860 , switch DLB  816  turns on and connects LXB  808  to ground potential. At that point the voltage on LXB  806  rapidly drops toward zero and employs ZCS or NCS on DHA  810  due to current I L2    804  being equal or less than zero. 
         [0058]    Between t6  870  and t7  880 , DLA  814  is turned on. Once DLA  814  is turned off at time t7  880 , currents in I L1    1002  and I L2    1004  are allowed to equalize. Stray capacitances present in the inductors may cause a temporary ringing effect  872  that decays relatively rapidly as shown in  FIG. 8 , until node voltage LXA  808  settles to a common voltage  874  that is slightly lower than voltage  862  due to the fact that node voltage LXA  808  is not tied to either switch DHA  1010  or DLA  1014 , but floating between two series inductors L1 and L2. The amplitude of voltage  874 , i.e., the value below the supply voltage V IN  to which voltage node LXA  808  adjusts is determined by the ratio of the inductances of L1 and L2. For example, if the ratio is 10:1, node voltage LXA  808  would increase by 10% relative to ground. If inductors L1 and L2 had equal inductances, the increase would be 50%, etc. Then, at time t8  890  when currents I L1    802  and I L2    804  are substantially equal again, the cycle repeats. 
         [0059]      FIG. 9  is a schematic of an illustrative buck-boost converter circuit utilizing zero volt switching, zero current switching, or negative current switching, according to various embodiments of the invention. Buck-Boost converter  900  comprises high-side switches DHA  902  and DHB  906 , low-side switches DLA  904  and DLB  908 , inductor  910 , voltage input terminal  916 , and output capacitor C OUT    934 . High-side switch DHA  902  and low-side switch DLA  904  are coupled to each other at voltage node LXA  930 , while high-side switch DHB  906  and low-side switch DLB  908  are coupled to each other at voltage node LXB  920 . Inductor L1  932  and inductor L2  910  are coupled in a series configuration and comprise a common voltage node LXA  930 . Output capacitor C OUT    934  is coupled to output terminal  940  of output capacitor  934 . In example in  FIG. 9 , buck-boost converter  900  operates as an inverting converter. 
         [0060]      FIG. 10  illustrates a typical timing diagram for the buck-boost circuit in  FIG. 9 , according to various embodiments of the invention. Similar to the buck converter timing diagram in  FIG. 3 , timing diagram  1000  in  FIG. 10  shows exemplary inductor currents I L1    1002 , I L2    1004  and gate voltages  1006 - 1016 . In example in  FIG. 10 , prior to time t1  1020 , the only switch that is active is switch DHB  1012 , such that the only connection between V IN  and ground is switch DHB  1012  in series with inductors L2 and L1. As a result, the current flows from V IN  through both inductors, such that the current through both inductors are equal. 
         [0061]    At time t1  1020 , currents I L1    1002  and I L2    1004  through inductors L1 and L2 are about equal. Following glitch  1018  of about one diode voltage below ground in both LXA  1006  and LXB  1008 , high-side switch DHB  1012  is turned off and low-side switches DLA  1014  and DLB  1016  are turned on. As a result, current I L2    1004  is shorted out and circulates through inductor L2 with relatively constant amplitude, as shown in  FIG. 10 . As in the buck converter configuration in  FIG. 2 , since only one node of inductor L1 is grounded, current I L1    1002  continuously decays at a relatively faster rate than I L2    1004 , such that by time t2  1030 , inductor L2 carries a greater current I L2    1004  than the inductor L1. 
         [0062]    When common node LXA  1008  between the two inductors is released by opening low-side switch DLA  1014 , at time t2  1030 , the energy stored in the smaller inductor L2 causes the voltage at node LXA  1008  to rise to V IN , while current I L2    1004  in the inductor L2 rapidly diminishes to 0 A or below. Transitioning the energy from inductor L2 allows node LXA  1008  to rise toward the top rail voltage. As a result, at time t3  1040 , after another short glitch to about one diode voltage above V IN , switch DHA  1010  turns on with zero voltage switching without experiencing switching losses. In one embodiment, DHA  1010  is turned on shortly after time t2  1030  to employ NCS since node LXA  1008  has negative current at time t2  1030 . 
         [0063]    Next, at time t4  1040 , when current I L2    1004  reaches zero, switch DLB  1030  is turned off. This allows voltage node LXB  1006  to rise to V IN , which allows DHB  1012  to transition with zero voltage switching shortly after t5  1060  when LXA  1008  falls below ground potential. In other words, each high-side switch DHA  1010  and DHB  1012  transitions with zero voltage switching at its respective voltage node. 
         [0064]    When DHA  1010  is turned off at t7  1080 , currents  1002  and I L2    1004  in L1 and L2 can equalize. Stray capacitances associated with inductors L1 and L2 can cause a temporary ringing  1074 , until the voltage at node LXA  1008  settles to common voltage  1074 . Common voltage  1074  is slightly lower than before time t7  1080  since node voltage LXA  1008  is not tied to either switch DHA  1010  or DLA  1014 , but floating between two series inductors L1 and L2. Similar to the boost converter in  FIG. 7 , the value below the supply voltage V IN  to which voltage node LXA  1008  adjusts is determined by the ratio of the inductances of L1 and L2. Finally, at time t8  1090  when currents I L1    1002  and I L2    1004  are substantially equal again, the cycle repeats. 
         [0065]      FIG. 11  illustrates a typical timing diagram for the buck circuit in  FIG. 2 , utilizing zero voltage switching and zero current switching, according to various embodiments of the invention. The switching period form t1  1118  to time t6  1123  employs ZVS. During this phase, switches DHA  1110  and DHB  1112  transition to a high state at time t2  1130  and t4  1121 , respectively, when the voltage across the respective switch is near or equal to zero. The switching period form time t7  1124  to time t10  1127  employs NCS and ZCS. During this phase, switch DHA  1110  transitions high when the current flowing through the switch is negative due to the difference in inductor currents I L1    1102  and I L2    1104 . As illustrated in  FIG. 11 , DHB  1112  transitions high with ZCS at time t8  1125  when current I L2    1104  in the switch crosses zero. The system efficiency of these two different types of switching have similar efficiencies that exceed existing switching schemes. 
         [0066]    It will be appreciated that the preceding examples and embodiments are exemplary and are for the purposes of clarity and understanding and not limiting to the scope of the present invention. It is intended that all permutations, enhancements, equivalents, combinations, and improvements thereto that are apparent to those skilled in the art, upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings, are included within the scope of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the claims include all such modifications, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7