Charge pump down circuit and method for the same

The present invention relates to a charge pump down circuit, in particular to a charge pump down circuit capable of providing multiple output/input ratios with less number of capacitors, and a corresponding method.

Conventionally, if it is intended to provide an output voltage Vout as one-fourth of an input voltage Vin, i.e., Vout=(¼)Vin, four capacitors are required in a charge pump down circuit, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B . The circuit switches between two time phases to generate an output voltage Vout as one-fourth of the input voltage Vin. This prior art circuit has the drawbacks that it requires relatively more number of capacitors, but is only capable of generating one single output.

The present invention is more flexible because it is capable of providing multiple output/input ratios by relatively less number of capacitors.

A first objective of the present invention is to provide a charge pump down circuit capable of providing multiple outputs with less number of capacitors.

A second objective of the present invention is to provide a charge pump down method.

In accordance with the foregoing and other objectives of the present invention, and from one aspect of the present invention, a charge pump down circuit comprises three capacitors operating in three time phases: in the first time phase, the total of the voltages across the three capacitors being equal to an input voltage; in the second time phase, the voltage across the second capacitor being equal to the voltage across the third capacitor; in the third time phase, the difference between the voltages across the first and the second capacitors being equal to the voltage across the third capacitor, wherein the voltage across the third capacitor is the output voltage of the charge pump down circuit.

The three time phases can be arranged in any order.

From another aspect of the present invention, a charge pump down circuit comprises: an input terminal, an output terminal, and three capacitors, wherein the anode of the first capacitor is electrically connected with the input terminal through a first switch; the anode of the first capacitor is electrically connected with the anode of the second capacitor through a second switch; the cathode of the first capacitor is electrically connected with the anode of the second capacitor through a third switch; the cathode of the first capacitor is electrically connected with the cathode of the second capacitor through a fourth switch; the anode of the second capacitor is electrically connected with the anode of the third capacitor through a fifth switch; the cathode of the second capacitor is electrically connected with the anode of the third capacitor through a sixth switch; the cathode of the second capacitor is electrically connected with the cathode of the third capacitor through a seventh switch; and the cathode of the third capacitor is electrically connected to ground.

Preferably, the charge pump down circuit described above further comprises an eighth switch electrically connecting the cathode of the first capacitor to ground, or a ninth switch electrically connecting the anode of the first capacitor with the anode of the third capacitor.

From yet another aspect of the present invention, a charge pump down method comprises: providing three capacitors; in a first time phase, making the total of the voltages across the three capacitors to be equal to an input voltage; in a second time phase, making the voltage across the second capacitor to be equal to the voltage across the third capacitor; and in the third time phase, making the difference between the voltages across the first and the second capacitors to be equal to the voltage across the third capacitor, wherein the voltage across the third capacitor is the output voltage.

From a still other aspect of the present invention, a charge pump down method comprises: providing an input terminal, an output terminal, and three capacitors; electrically connecting two or more of the three capacitors in different ways in different time phases; and making the voltage across one of the three capacitors to be (¼) of a voltage at the input terminal by the different ways of connection.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are provided as examples, for illustration but not for limiting the scope of the invention.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show how a conventional circuit obtains Vout=(¼)Vin by four capacitors and two time phases.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A-3C explain how the present invention obtains Vout=(¼)Vin.

FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of the charge pump down circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment requires only three capacitors to generate an output of one-fourth of the input voltage, i.e., Vout=(¼)Vin. Moreover, the output voltage can be adjusted to be equal to 1X, (½)X, (⅓)X, (¼)X, (⅔)X of Vin, where “X” means one multiple.

To explain the operation of the circuit, please refer to FIGS. 3A-3C , and taking Vout=(¼)Vin as the first example. In this case, the circuit needs to switch among three time phases: in the first time phase, C 1 +C 2 +C 3 =Vin; in the second time phase, C 2 =C 3 ; and in the third time phase, C 1 −C 2 =C 3 . It can be obtained from the above three equations that C 3 =(¼)Vin, and thus Vout=(¼)Vin if the voltage across the capacitor C 3 is set to be the output voltage Vout.

Referring to FIGS. 3A-3C in conjunction with FIG. 2 , to obtain Vout=(¼)Vin, the operation of the switches in the three phases are as follows:

First time phase: switches S 0 , S 2 , and S 5 ON, rest OFF Second time phase: switches S 4 and S 6 ON, rest OFF Third time phase: switches S 1 , S 5 , and S 7 ON, rest OFF

Note that the three time phases need not follow such order: first time phase→second time phase→third time phase. The order can be in any sequence, such as third time phase→second time phase→first time phase, or any other way.

The above operation does not require the switch S 8 , and thus if it is only required to generate an output of (¼)Vin, and no other outputs are required, the switch S 8 can be omitted.

In similar manners, the circuit of FIG. 2 can generate other outputs as below:

Vout=Vin (only one time phase is required) Switches S 0 , S 1 , and S 4 ON, rest OFF

Vout=(½)Vin (only two time phases are required)

First time phase: switches S 0 , S 1 , S 3 , and S 5 ON, rest OFF Second time phase: switches S 1 , S 3 , S 4 , and S 6 ON, rest OFF

Vout=(⅓)Vin (only two time phases are required)

First time phase: switches S 0 , S 2 , and S 5 ON, rest OFF Second time phase: switches S 1 , S 3 , S 4 , and S 6 ON, rest OFF

Vout=(¼)Vin (three time phases are required, as described above)

First time phase: switches S 0 , S 2 , and S 5 ON, rest OFF Second time phase: switches S 4 and S 6 ON, rest OFF Third time phase: switches S 1 , S 5 , and S 7 ON, rest OFF

Vout=(⅔)Vin (only two time phases are required)

First time phase: switches S 0 , S 1 , S 3 , and S 5 ON, rest OFF Second time phase: switches S 2 , S 6 , and S 8 ON, rest OFF

It can be seen from the foregoing that some of the paths and switches can be omitted from the circuit if the circuit is to be applied to provide limited outputs. For example, the switch S 7 is only used in the case for generating Vout=(¼)Vin, and the switch S 8 is only used in the case for generating Vout=(⅔)Vin. Therefore, these switches and corresponding paths can be omitted if such outputs are not required.

The present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof. It should be understood that the description is for illustrative purpose, not for limiting the scope of the present invention. Those skilled in this art can readily conceive variations and modifications within the spirit of the present invention. For example, some of the paths and switches can be omitted from the circuit, or connected in an alternative way. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover all such and other modifications and variations, which should be interpreted to fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.