Patent ID: 8546974

Claim:
A method in a power supply comprising: transferring energy from a power source to an inductor by selectably closing a primary switch between the power source and the inductor, the transferring energy from the power source to the inductor comprising transferring energy to a first winding of the inductor; transferring energy from the inductor to an energy storage element and to a load coupled to the inductor by selectably closing one or more additional switches to selectively connect the load across the inductor, wherein the primary switch and the one or more additional switches are synchronously controlled and wherein transferring energy from the inductor to the energy storage element comprises connecting a second winding of the inductor to the energy storage element to charge the energy storage element; and transferring energy from the energy storage element to the load by: connecting the charged energy storage element in reverse polarity to the second winding of the inductor to re-energize the inductor; and connecting the load to the second winding of the re-energized inductor.