Patent ID: 8896278

Claim:
A controller used in a multi-phase switching converter, wherein the multi-phase switching converter comprises a plurality of switching circuits with each of the switching circuits having an output terminal, the output terminals of the plurality of switching circuits are coupled together to provide an output voltage to a load, the controller is configured to generate a plurality of control signals to turn on the plurality of switching circuits successively, wherein when a load current increase is detected, the controller operates in an overlap mode and after a current switching circuit of the plurality of switching circuits turns on, at least two switching circuits are turned on simultaneously, and wherein after the controller exits out of the overlap mode, the controller resumes to successively turning on the plurality of switching circuits; and wherein the controller compares the output voltage with a plurality of threshold voltages to generate a plurality of load indication signals, and wherein based on the plurality of load indication signals, the controller detects whether the load current is increased and determines the number of the switching circuits to simultaneously turn on in the overlap mode.