The present invention relates in general to power transfer devices, and more particularly, to a switch control circuit and method for constraining electromagnetic emissions from an integrated floating power transfer device.
Many system designs include power conversion circuitry to develop a required operating voltage. One such power conversion circuit is known as a charge pump. A charge pump is a device for creating increases in supply voltage or for inverting a supply voltage to generate a split supply. Many of these devices are related to applications using non-volatile memory circuits, which require a high voltage for programming. In a conventional charge pump power conversion circuit, the load device connects so that one terminal thereof is common to one of the supply terminals, typically the ground reference. U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,104 discloses a power conversion circuit which is both a voltage multiplying and inverting charge pump. However, the output of the power conversion circuit remains referenced to the ground node.
In certain system implementations, it may be advantageous to power the system using a floating power transfer device. By floating the power transfer device, if a terminal in the system were to short, then the system may still be able to continue to operate. For example, in an automobile bus network, the signaling portion of the system on the bus could be floating relative to any other reference, such as ground or battery positive This would provide enhanced fault tolerance by allowing communications to still occur notwithstanding a short at a terminal thereof.
The shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages are provided by the provision of a floating power transfer device which includes a floating bus, and a power and data system for driving the floating bus. The power and data system include a charge pump circuit. Electromagnetic emission control is provided by at least one switch control circuit coupled between the floating bus and the power and data system for facilitating charging of the floating bus and controlling electromagnetic emissions from the floating bus by constraining a slew rate on the floating bus.
In another aspect, a circuit is provided which includes a first switch control circuit for electrically coupling to a high side bus node of a floating bus, and a second switch control circuit for electrically coupling to a low side bus node of the floating bus, wherein the first switch control circuit and the second switch control circuit comprise complementary control circuits for controlling charging of the floating bus by a power and data system. A reference circuit is also provided for generating a first reference signal for the first switch control circuit and a second reference signal for the second switch control circuit. The first reference signal and the second reference signal are employed by the first switch control circuit and the second switch control circuit, respectively, for controlling electromagnetic emissions from the floating bus by constraining a slew rate on the floating bus.
In a further aspect, a method for constraining electromagnetic emissions from an integrated floating power transfer device is provided. This method includes: tailoring a transfer characteristic of a first switch control circuit to be electrically coupled to a high side bus node of a floating bus, and tailoring a transfer characteristic of a second switch control circuit to be electrically coupled to a low side bus node of the floating bus, wherein the first switch control circuit and the second switch control circuit comprise complementary control circuits for controlling charging of the floating bus by a power and data system; and generating, when in use, a first reference signal for the first switch control circuit and a second reference signal for the second switch control circuit, wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal are employed by the first switch control circuit and the second switch control circuit, respectively, for controlling electromagnetic emissions from the floating bus by constraining a slew rate on the floating bus.
Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the invention are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed invention.
The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein the same reference numbers used throughout different figures designate the same or similar components. One embodiment of a power transfer device for powering a load 105 is shown in
The power transfer device of
One embodiment of a floating power transfer device that enables the dual function of power and data transfer is shown in
An integrated circuit (IC) implementation of a floating power transfer device with a combined power and data feature is shown in
Power is again available in this implementation from the floating circuit due to energy retained by the hold capacitor CH 204. Diode 212 again prevents the bus signal voltages from discharging the hold capacitor 204. Output VB+ 216 at one side of load 205 provides a continuous power source relative to the floating bus.
When a signal appears on the floating bus during the data phase, it may drive the bus voltage to 0 V or some other predetermined intermediate value. For the remainder of this phase, the bus is held at that value. At the commencement of the power-phase, the bus transistor switches 302, 311 turn on and the bus voltage is restored to the power level. In this system, the speed at which the bus voltage changes is dependent on the impedance of the switches 302, 311 and diodes 318, 319 conducting current from the shuttle capacitor CS 103 onto the floating bus. When the rate of change is uncontrolled, as in this case, the edge of the voltage waveform can be quite sharp. This results in a signal spectrum with a high harmonic content. If the spectral content of the signal spreads into adjacent radio bands, then this is called electromagnetic emission (EME). Certain applications of a floating power transfer device such as depicted in
Disclosed herein is a technique for constraining the EME output from a floating bus driven by a combined power and data system and based on an integrated circuit (IC) charge pump circuit. As noted above, the uncontrolled slope of the power-phase voltage edge can generate EME that interferes with radio reception. Replacing the bus-switch transistors 302, 311 of
The floating bus forms a balanced system where the high-side BUS+ 214 switch 302 and diode 318 are matched by a corresponding low-side BUS− 215 switch 311 and diode 319, and which includes the implicit bus capacitance CBUS 213. The current flow is out of the BUS+ and into the BUS− terminal. Two complementary circuits are used to maintain the balance of the system, while achieving the reduction in EME that is desired. The circuit shown in
In
The conceptual operation of the switch control circuits 402, 411 is similar for both the “Pcontrol” 402 and the “Ncontrol” 411 circuits, with the N version being described in detail herein. The “Pcontrol” circuit 402 would comprise the complement of the N circuit. The “Ncontrol” circuit has a control input Ctrl and a reference Ref as well as the switch nodes Vlo and Sw. When a logical 1 is applied to the Ctrl input, the switch control circuit 411 is turned on, and with a logical 0, it is off. When the voltage across the switch terminals Sw and Vlo is larger than a given threshold voltage (VswTh), the output current is kept at a constant value, dependent on the reference value.
A graphical view of one example of the voltage-current relation (i.e., transfer characteristic) for the “on” switch is shown in
In the circuit of
The HiLo input to the RefGen circuit 421 is used to select between two different reference current levels that are determined by the bus speed. During high speed operation, the current is fixed at the maximum level that develops the necessary slew rate for the bus through the switch control circuits 402, 411. With low speed operation, a period of low current is specified prior to the application of the maximum output level. This creates a longer slew, and thus reduces the EME in the low speed mode.
To restate, switch control circuits 402, 411 are provided in this example to limit current to a fixed value so that with a rising voltage on the floating bus, the amount of electromagnetic emissions is controlled. The amount of EME depends upon the sharpness of the switch on and switch off characteristics of the switch control circuit.
One embodiment of the N control circuit 411 is depicted in
With this design, the output is partitioned into two branches controlled by DMOS switches MND1717 for BranchA and MDN0716 for BranchB. Splitting the output current into two paths allows a small series-resistance RBA 714 in BranchA to create a sense voltage to be compared to the generated reference voltage, without introducing additional resistance into the main current path, BranchB.
The input node Iref 722 supplies the reference current IR that is folded through current mirrors J_4, J_3, J_5721, 712, 711. The mirrors J_2, J_1, J_0708, 706, 705 fold the reference current from the positive supply. Mirror J_0705 doubles the output current to 2·IR and provides the correct biasing current IR, for diode-connected NMOS transistor M2720 and the remaining current (also IR) is used to create an offset voltage across resistor RIB 718. An identical current IR, biases the two NMOS transistors M3703 and M2720. Device M3703 provides the gain of the circuit. The voltage Io·RBA is compared to the reference voltage obtained from IR·RIB, the additional resistor RIA 719 corrects for the small error introduced by the addition of the reference current IR to the output current in BranchA. With the current IR in each path, the values of resistors R0, RIA and RIB are identical. The final value of the output current Iout 701 through the blocking diode D_2702 is obtained from the following:
The offset at the source of transistor MND1, created by the current through RBA 714, is compensated at the gate drive nodes GateBA and GateBB by the resistor RO 704. When the circuit is operating in equilibrium the current through RO 704 is the same as the current in RIB 718, and both devices have the same voltage. The feedback loop around RO 704, MND1717, RBA 714, M2720, RIB 718 and M3703 ensures that the voltage across RO 704 is the same as that across RBA 714. This condition remains true while the output voltage on the drain node remains sufficient to keep both DMOS switches MND1717 and MND0716 in saturation. In dynamic conditions, such as the pull-down of the output on node Iout, and consequently on the drain, an amount of charge is lost to the gate of MND1717 that creates an error in the voltage drop across R0714. Similarly, an additional error is introduced by the current lost in charging the gate of MND0716 that alters the bias condition of NMOS transistor M3703. If the gate charging current is small relative to the bias current then the accuracy of the output current (N+1)·Io is sufficient for the purposes of this apparatus.
The switching of the output node is achieved by a control signal Vsw 710 that drives the gate switches SW_0713 and SW_1715. When the switches are turned on, the two gate nodes GateBA and GateBB are pulled down to ground, turning off both of the output DMOS transistors, MND1717 and MND0716, The current loss through the switches is limited by the current mirror J_1706 to be IR.
Errors introduced by the output Iout 701 slewing mentioned in connection with
Returning to
The enhancements of
One embodiment of the complementary “Pcontrol” circuit is depicted in
Although preferred embodiments have been depicted and described in detail herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art that various modifications, additions, substitutions and the like can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and these are therefore considered to be within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional No. 60/427,413, filed Nov. 18, 2002. This provisional application is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB03/05198 | 11/17/2003 | WO | 5/18/2005 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60427413 | Nov 2002 | US |