Patent ID: 7411316

Claim:
A dual-input power converter for producing an output voltage, comprising: a first input coupled to a first input voltage; a second input coupled to a second input voltage, the second input voltage having of a different magnitude than the first input voltage; a common low-side switch coupled to a common reference for the first and second input voltages; a first high-side switch coupled between the first input and the common low-side switch such that the first high-side switch and the common low-side switch serve as a first power stage; a second high-side switch coupled between the second input and the common low-side switch such that the second high-side switch and the common low-side switch serve as a second power stage; and a controller coupled to the common low-side switch, the first high-side switch, and the second high-side switch for controlling the driving of the first and second power stages to respectively convert the first or second input voltage to the output voltage, the controller driving the common low-side switch, the first high-side switch, and the second high-side switch such that none of their on-duty cycles overlap.