Intelligent management of current sharing group
US8120203B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 19, 2009 |
| Grant date | Feb 21, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 4, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH02M1/008
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A distributed power management system may include a communication bus and a plurality of POL (point-of-load) regulators coupled to the communication bus and configured in a current sharing arrangement in which each POL regulator of the plurality of POL regulators has a respective output stage coupled to a common load and configured to generate a respective output current. Each POL regulator may have a respective phase in the current sharing configuration, and may transmit and receive information over the bus according to a bus communication protocol corresponding to the bus. The plurality of POL regulators may autonomously arbitrate a new master assignment, when a POL regulator operating as a master device drops out of regulation when a fault occurs, the respective phase of the master device is dropped, and/or the communication interface of the master device to the communication bus fails. The plurality of POL regulators may autonomously add and drop phases while automatically redistributing phase alignments of the POL regulators relative to one another.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.