Patent ID: 7498787

Claim:
A system for controlling a switching power converter operating at a switching frequency, comprising: a digital controller for receiving an analog signal representing the output DC voltage of the 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 level, at least two of the switching control signals having a dead time control region between a first control edge of a first control signal representing when the first control signal changes state to an off control state and a second control edge of a second control signal representing when the second control signal changes state to an on control state, wherein the dead time control region is programmable such that the second control edge may occur at a selected point in time either before or after the first control edge, the operation of the digital controller parameterized by a set of operating parameters; and a microcontroller for determining the operating parameters used by said digital controller and for establishing the programmable dead time control region, said microcontroller operating independent of the operation of said digital controller.