Patent ID: 7518350

Claim:
A system for optimizing power efficiency of a switching power converter operating at a switching frequency, comprising: a digital controller for receiving an analog signal representing an output DC voltage of the switching power converter for comparison to a desired output voltage level and generating switching control signals to control the operation of the power supply to regulate the output DC voltage to said desired output voltage, at least two of the switching control signals having a dead time between a first edge of a first control signal and a second edge of a second control signal, wherein the dead time is programmable to control a power efficiency of the switching power converter, the switching control signals switching the switching power supply between a continuous conduction mode and a discontinuous conduction mode responsive to a mode control signal, the operation of the digital controller parameterized by a set of operating parameters; a driver circuit connected to an output of the digital controller to drive the switching control signals and having an input for a regulated voltage; a voltage regulator for selecting the regulated voltage to the driver circuit responsive to a voltage control signal; and a micro controller for determining the parameters used by said digital controller, for establishing the programmable dead time between the control signals to substantially maximize the power efficiency of the switching power converter, for generating the voltage control signal to substantially maximize the power efficiency of the switching power converter and for generating the mode control signal responsive to a current signal from the switching power converter, said micro controller operating independent of the operation of the digital controller.