Patent · US Active

Low-input-voltage charge pump

US7595683B1 · kind B1 · utility

22Cited by
7References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateNov 15, 2007
Grant dateSep 29, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 15, 2027

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH02M3/073
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In one embodiment, a charge pump system includes an input terminal at which an input voltage is received, and an output terminal at which at an output voltage is provided. N stages are connected in cascade between the input terminal and the output terminal. Each of the N stages includes at most one inverter circuit, the inverter circuit having a first transistor connected at a node to a second transistor. A first capacitor is coupled at one end to the node between the first and second transistors, and is coupled at another end to receive one of two non-overlapping phase signals. In each stage, at one value for the one of two non-overlapping phase signals, the first capacitor of the stage is charged by a respective stage input voltage, and at another value for the one of two non-overlapping phase signals the first capacitor of the stage is discharged to provide a respective stage output voltage. The charge pump system is capable of generating the output voltage with a greater magnitude than the input voltage even when the supply voltage is relatively low, e.g., below 1V.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.