Patent ID: 8817501

Claim:
An apparatus for converting a first voltage into a second voltage, said apparatus comprising a controller, and a reconfigurable switched capacitor power converter having a selectable conversion gain, said reconfigurable switched capacitor power converter comprising a first cascade multiplier switched capacitor network, wherein said first cascade multiplier switched capacitor network comprises a multistage structure comprising a first end, at which, during operation of said first cascade multiplier switched capacitor network, there is present said first voltage, a second end, at which, during operation of said first cascade multiplier switched capacitor network, there is present said second voltage, and a plurality of stage structures that are in physical communication with each other so as to form a charge transfer path between said first end and said second end, wherein said first cascade multiplier network transfers energy between said first end, and said second end by cycling through different topological states of said first cascade multiplier switched capacitor network, wherein said multistage structure of said first cascade multiplier switched capacitor network comprises a plurality of capacitors, each of which is electrically connected, at a first terminal thereof, to a stack node associated with said capacitor and at a second terminal thereof to a phase node associated with said capacitor, said plurality of capacitors comprising a first outer capacitor, a second outer capacitor, and at least one inner capacitor between said first outer capacitor and said second outer capacitor, and a plurality of stack switches between nodes of adjacent capacitors from a plurality of capacitors, wherein during operation, each of said stack switches sustains a voltage that is no greater than twice the lesser of said first voltage and said second voltage, and wherein said controller is structured and configured to cause said first cascade multiplier switched capacitor network to transition between a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation, each of said modes being characterized by a voltage conversion gain, wherein, in said first mode of operation, at least one capacitor is isolated from a charge transfer path of said reconfigurable switched capacitor power converter, said charge transfer path extending between said first voltage and said second voltage, and wherein said controller is configured to isolate said at least one capacitor by disconnecting at most one terminal selected from the group consisting of said first terminal and said second terminal, whereby in said first mode of operation, said reconfigurable switched capacitor power converter operates with a first conversion gain and in said second mode of operation, said reconfigurable switched capacitor power converter operates with a second conversion gain.