This application claims the priority benefit of China application serial no. 201810039600.7, filed on Jan. 16, 2018. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
The disclosure is related to a voltage generating device and a calibrating method thereof.
Among many electronic circuits, generally a reference voltage that is stable and accurate is required. Bandgap (or energy gap) circuits are commonly applied in electronic circuit to provide reference voltage.
An embodiment of the disclosure provides a voltage generating device. The voltage generating device includes a bandgap circuit, a regulator circuit and a calibrating circuit. The bandgap circuit includes a chopper amplifier and at least one bandgap circuit resistor. The bandgap circuit provides a bandgap voltage. The regulator circuit is coupled to the bandgap circuit to receive bandgap voltage. The regulator circuit can generate an output voltage correspondingly according to the bandgap voltage. The regulator circuit includes at least one regulator resistor. The calibrating circuit is coupled to the bandgap circuit to receive the bandgap voltage. The calibrating circuit is coupled to the regulator circuit to receive the output voltage. In the first stage of the calibration period, the calibrating circuit detects the bandgap voltage and correspondingly sets the resistance of at least one resistor among the bandgap circuit resistor according to the bandgap voltage. In the second stage of the calibration period, the calibrating circuit detects the output voltage and correspondingly sets the resistance of at least one resistor among the regulator resistor according to the output voltage.
An embodiment of the disclosure further provides a calibrating method of a voltage generating device. The calibrating method includes providing a bandgap voltage by a bandgap circuit, wherein the bandgap circuit includes a chopper amplifier and at least one bandgap circuit resistor; in the first stage of the calibration period, detecting the bandgap voltage by a calibrating circuit, and setting a resistance of at least one resistor among the bandgap circuit resistor correspondingly according to the bandgap voltage; generating an output voltage correspondingly by a regulator circuit according to the bandgap voltage, wherein the regulator circuit includes at least one regulator resistor; and in the second stage of the calibration period, detecting the output voltage by the calibrating circuit and setting the resistance of at least one resistor among the regulator resistor correspondingly according to the output voltage.
In order to make the aforementioned features and advantages of the disclosure more comprehensible, embodiments accompanying figures are described in detail below.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. Moreover, elements/components/steps with same reference numerals represent same or similar parts in the drawings and embodiments. Elements/components/notations with the same reference numerals in different embodiments may be referenced to the related description. “Coupling” used in the full disclosure (including the claims) can refer to any direct or indirect connection means. For example, in the disclosure, if the first apparatus is coupled to the second apparatus, it should be interpreted that the first apparatus can be directly connected to the second apparatus, or the first apparatus can be indirectly connected to the second apparatus through another apparatus or a certain connection means.
The disclosure provides a voltage generating device and a calibrating method thereof to provide a stable and accurate output voltage.
According to the examples of the disclosure, the voltage generating device and the calibrating method thereof calibrate the resistor of a bandgap circuit first in a calibration period, and then calibrates the resistor of a regulator circuit. The voltage generating device adopts the bandgap circuit having a chopper amplifier to provide a stable and accurate bandgap voltage and the regulator circuit is adopted to provide a driving ability.
In order to increase accuracy of the output voltage of the voltage generating device and to reduce temperature drift, the following embodiments provide an improved trimming celebration method. In the test period (calibration period), the calibrating method in the following examples performs two times of measurement and two times of trimming in two stages, thereby calibrating process offset and offset variation, and thus save time and cost.
In some embodiments, a clock signal is used in the first stage of the calibration period, and the clock signal is not used in the second stage of the calibration period and a normal operation period. Therefore, in the second stage of the calibration period and the normal operation period, there is no periodic noise overlaying the output voltage.
In
According to the need of design, one or more of the first resistor R1, the second resistor R2, the third resistor R3 and the fourth resistor R4 may be changed into a constant resistor. For example, in other embodiments, the first resistor R1, the second resistor R2 and the fourth resistor R4 may be a variable resistor, and the third resistor R3 may be a constant resistor. Correspondingly, the resistance trimming command CR3 may be omitted. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the fourth resistor R4 may be a variable resistor, and the first resistor R1, the second resistor R2 and the third resistor R3 may be a constant resistor. Correspondingly, the resistance trimming command CR1, CR2 and CR3 may be omitted.
In the embodiment shown in
The implementation of the chopper amplifier 111 may be realized depending on the need of design. For example, the chopper amplifier 111 may be a known chopper amplifier or other chopper amplifying element/circuit. In the embodiment shown in
The implementation of the low-pass filtering circuit 112 may be realized depending on the need of design. For example, the low-pass filtering circuit 112 may be a known low-pass filtering circuit or other low-pass filtering element/circuit. In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment shown in
The regulator circuit 120 includes at least one regulator resistor. In the example shown in
According to the need of design, one or more of the resistor R5 and the resistor R6 may be changed into a constant resistor. For example, in other embodiments, the resistor R5 may be a variable resistor, and the resistor R6 may be a constant resistor. Correspondingly, the resistance trimming command CR6 may be omitted. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the resistor R6 may be a variable resistor, and the resistor R5 may be a constant resistor. Correspondingly, the resistance trimming command CR5 may be omitted.
The regulator circuit 120 further includes an error amplifier 121 and a power transistor 122. A first input terminal (e.g., inverse input terminal) of the error amplifier 121 is coupled to the output terminal of the bandgap circuit 110 to receive the bandgap voltage VBG. A second input terminal (e.g., non-inverse input terminal) of the error amplifier 121 is coupled to a first terminal of the resistor R5 and a first terminal of the resistor R6. A first terminal (e.g., source) of the power transistor 122 is coupled to the input voltage VIN. A control terminal (e.g., gate) of the power transistor 122 is coupled to an output terminal of the error amplifier 121. A second terminal (e.g., drain) of the power transistor 122 is coupled to the second terminal of the resistor R5. A voltage of the second terminal of the power transistor 122 is the output voltage VOUT.
The calibrating circuit 130 is coupled to the bandgap circuit 110 to receive the bandgap voltage VBG. The calibrating circuit 130 is coupled to the regulator circuit 120 to receive the output voltage VOUT. In the first stage of the calibration period, the calibrating circuit 130 detects the bandgap voltage VBG, and correspondingly sets the resistance of at least one resistor among the bandgap circuit resistor (R1, R2, R3 and/or R4 in
According to the bandgap voltage VBG, the calibrating circuit 130 may correspondingly set the resistance of at least one resistor among the bandgap circuit resistor in the first stage (step S220) of the calibration period. Here, the resistor R4 serves as an example for description; the other resistors R1, R2 and/or R3 may be deduced from the reference to the resistor R4. In some embodiments, poly fuse, efuse or other approach may be employed to control/set the resistance of the resistor R4. In other embodiments, a flip-flop, a central processing unit (CPU) or a microcontroller unit (MCU) is employed to control logic bits so as to control/set the resistance of the resistor R4.
In the first stage (step S220) of the calibration period, the calibrating circuit 130 may detect the bandgap voltage VBG to obtain the currently detected value. The bandgap voltage VBG=VBE1+(VT·ln(n)) [1+(R1+2*R4)/R3] VOFF1. According to the equation, the variation ΔR4 of the resistor R4 causes the variation of the bandgap voltage VBG to be ΔVBG=(VT·ln(n))(2*ΔR4)/R3. By comparing the ideal value (designed target value) VBGi of the bandgap voltage VBG with the currently detected value at the moment, a difference ΔVBG between the two can be obtained. According to variation ΔVBG, the variation ΔR4 of the resistance of the resistor R4 can be inferred. Here, the corresponding relationship between one ΔR4 and one ΔVBG is referred to as bandgap voltage trimming step. The finer the resolution of the resistor R4, the more the trimming step of the bandgap voltage VBG, such that the currently detected value of the bandgap voltage VBG can be closer to the ideal value (designed target value) VBGi. After the first stage (step S220) is completed, the temperature coefficient of the bandgap voltage VBG may be improved.
In some embodiments, the calibrating circuit 130 may be provided with a look up table. The calibrating circuit 130 can obtain a resistance setting information of the resistor R4 from the look up table according to the currently detected value of the bandgap voltage VBG so as to control/set the resistance of the resistor R4 using the resistance trimming command CR4 according to the resistance setting information. In other embodiments, the calibrating circuit 130 may be provided with a calculating circuit. The calculating circuit of the calibrating circuit 130 can calculate the currently detected value of the bandgap voltage VBG to obtain the resistance setting information of the resistor R4 so as to control/set the resistance of the resistor R4 using the resistance trimming command CR4 according to the resistance setting information.
In step S230, the regulator circuit 120 may correspondingly generate the output voltage VOUT according to the bandgap voltage VBG. The regulator circuit 120 includes at least one regulator resistor (e.g., R5 and/or R6 shown in
In the second stage (step S240) of the calibration period, the calibrating circuit 130 may detect the output voltage VOUT to obtain the currently detected value, and correspondingly control/set the resistance of at least one resistor among the regulator resistor (e.g., R5 and/or R6 shown in
In the second stage (step S240) of the calibration period, the calibrating circuit 130 may detect the output voltage VOUT to obtain the currently detected value. The output voltage VOUT=VBG*(1+R5/R6)+(1+R5/R6)*VOFF2, namely, VOUT=VBG*(1+R5/R6)+(1+R5/R6)*VOFF1+VOFF2, wherein VOFF1 is an offset of the operational amplifier 111b, and VOFF2 is an offset of the error amplifier 121. According to the equation, the variation ΔR5 of the resistor R5 causes the variation of the output voltage VOUT to be ΔVOUT=(ΔR5/R6)*VBG+(ΔR5/R6)*VOFF1+(ΔR5/R6)*VOFF2. Generally speaking, VBG is about 1.2V, and the offset may be about several (or a dozen) mV; as a result, they are different by two orders. Therefore, the equation can be simplified as ΔVOUT≈(ΔR5/R6)*VBG. By comparing the ideal value (designed target value) of the output voltage VOUT with the currently detected value at the moment, the difference ΔVOUT of the two can be obtained. According to the variation ΔVOUT, the variation ΔR5 of the resistance of the resistor R5 can be inferred. Here, the corresponding relationship between one ΔR5 and one ΔVOUT is referred to as an output voltage trimming step. The finer the resolution of the resistor R5, the more trimming step of the output voltage VOUT, such that the currently detected value of the output voltage VOUT can be closer to the ideal value (designed target value). By trimming the resistor R5 in the second stage (step S240), the effect on the accuracy of the output voltage VOUT caused by the offset VOFF1 of the operational amplifier 111b and the offset VOFF2 of the error amplifier 121 can be corrected.
The above-mentioned steps can be performed at room temperature without having to change the temperature of the environment. After the calibration period is over, the system can enter the normal operation period. In the normal operation period, the calibrating circuit 130 does not provide the clock signal CLK to the chopper amplifier 111. In the condition that the “clock signal CLK is not provided”, the output voltage VOUT does not have the noise caused by the clock signal CLK.
The counter 132 may count the clock signal CLK and output and the counted value to the register 133. The register 133 has a storage result therein, and the storage result is provided to the logic controlling circuit 134. The register 133 is coupled to the counter 132 to receive the counted value. The register 133 is coupled to the voltage comparator 131 to receive the comparing result. When the comparing result is the first logic level (e.g., low logic level), it represents that the bandgap voltage VBG does not match the ideal value (designed target value) VBGi; as a result, the register 133 updates the storage result according to the counted value of the counter 132. When the comparing result is the second logic level (e.g., high logic level), it represents that the bandgap voltage VBG matches the ideal value (designed target value) VBGi and thus the register 133 does not update the storage result.
The logic controlling circuit 134 is coupled to the register 133 to receive the storage result. The logic controlling circuit 134 can correspondingly adjust the resistance trimming command CR4 according to the storage result of the register 133, and output the resistance trimming command CR4 to at least one resistor R4 among the bandgap circuit resistor to set the resistance of the resistor R4.
An input terminal of the clock controlling circuit 135 receives the clock signal CLK. An output terminal of the clock controlling circuit 135 is coupled to the chopper amplifier 111. A control terminal of the clock controlling circuit 135 is coupled to the output terminal of the voltage comparator 131 to receive the comparing result. When the comparing result is the first logic level (e.g., low logic level), it represents that the bandgap voltage VBG does not match the ideal value (designed target value) VBGi; as a result, the clock controlling circuit 135 provides the clock signal CLK to the chopper amplifier 111. When the comparing result is the second logic level (e.g., high logic level), it represents that the bandgap voltage VBG matches the ideal value (designed target value) VBGi; as a result, the clock controlling circuit 135 does not provide the clock signal CLK to the chopper amplifier 111.
It should be indicated that, in different application environments, the related functions of the calibrating circuit 130 may be realized as software, firmware or hardware using general programming languages (e.g., C or C++), hardware description languages (e.g., Verilog HDL or VHDL) or other suitable programming languages. The program languages that can execute related functions may be arranged as any known computer-accessible medias such as magnetic tapes, semiconductors memory, magnetic disks or compact disks (e.g., CD-ROM or DVD-ROM), or through Internet, wired communication, wireless communication or other communication medium to transmit the program languages. The program languages may be stored in the accessible medias of the computer so as for the processor of the computer to access/execute the programming codes of the software (or firmware). In terms of realization of hardware, one or more controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) and/or various logic blocks, modules and circuits in other processing units may be used to realize or execute the functions described in the embodiments. Additionally, the device and the method provided by the disclosure can be realized through the combination of hardware and software.
In summary of the above, with the voltage generating device and the calibrating method described in the embodiments of the disclosure, the resistor of the bandgap circuit is calibrated first in the first stage of the calibration period, and then the resistor of the regulator circuit is calibrated in the second stage of the calibration period. The voltage generating device adopts the bandgap circuit having the chopper amplifier to provide stable and accurate bandgap voltage as well as the regulator circuit to provide the driving ability. In the second stage of the calibration period and the normal operation period, the clock signal is not provided to the chopper amplifier, and thus the clock noise (switch noise) of the chopper amplifier can be eliminated.
Although the disclosure has been disclosed by the above embodiments, the embodiments are not intended to limit the disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. Therefore, the protecting range of the disclosure falls in the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2018 1 0039600 | Jan 2018 | CN | national |
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