US 11,955,890 B2
Switching converter circuit and driver circuit having adaptive dead time thereof
Ting-Wei Liao, Taichung (TW); Chien-Yu Chen, Kaohsiung (TW); Kun-Huang Yu, Hsinchu (TW); Chien-Wei Chiu, Yunlin (TW); and Ta-Yung Yang, Taoyuan (TW)
Assigned to RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION, Hsinchu (TW)
Filed by RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION, Zhubei (TW)
Filed on Jan. 2, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/567,130.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/141,406, filed on Jan. 25, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 110127400 (TW), filed on Jul. 26, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0239224 A1, Jul. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. H02M 1/38 (2007.01); H02M 1/00 (2006.01); H02M 1/08 (2006.01); H02M 3/158 (2006.01); H03K 17/06 (2006.01)
CPC H02M 3/158 (2013.01) [H02M 1/0006 (2021.05); H02M 1/08 (2013.01); H02M 1/38 (2013.01); H03K 17/063 (2013.01); H03K 2217/0063 (2013.01); H03K 2217/0072 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A switching converter circuit, which is configured to operably switch a first end of an inductor between a first voltage and a second voltage according to a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal to convert an input voltage to an output voltage, the switching converter circuit comprising:
a high side metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) coupled between the first voltage and the first end of the inductor;
a low side MOSFET coupled between the second voltage and the first end of the inductor; and
a driver circuit including:
a high side driver configured to operably generate a high side driving signal according to the PWM signal, so as to drive the high side MOSFET;
a low side driver configured to operably generate a low side driving signal according to the PWM signal, so as to drive the low side MOSFET;
a high side sensor circuit configured to operably sense a gate-source voltage of the high side MOSFET and generate a low side enable signal according to the gate-source voltage of the high side MOSFET, so as to indicate an OFF state of the high side MOSFET, wherein the low side enable signal enables the low side driver to switch the low side MOSFET according to the PWM signal; and
a low side sensor circuit configured to operably sense a gate-source voltage of the low side MOSFET and generate a high side enable signal according to the gate-source voltage of the low side MOSFET, so as to indicate an OFF state of the low side MOSFET, wherein the high side enable signal enables the high side driver to switch the high side MOSFET according to the PWM signal;
wherein the low side sensor circuit includes a low side sensor MOSFET having a conductivity type which is the same as the low side MOSFET, wherein a gate of the low side sensor MOSFET is coupled with a gate of the low side MOSFET, and a source of the low side sensor MOSFET is coupled with a source of the low side MOSFET, such that the low side sensor MOSFET generates the high side enable signal at a drain of the low side sensor MOSFET according to the gate-source voltage of the low side MOSFET.