Multi-Ratio Switched-Capacitor DC-DC Converters for Power Management Applications

Patrick Mercier and Loai Salem
University of California, San Diego


Abstract

Switched-capacitor (SC) DC-DC converters offer an attractive alternative to conventional linear regulators and switched-inductor converters due to a combination of high efficiency and large power density in small, CMOS-compatible form-factors. However, SC converters are only efficient at discrete ratios of input-to-output, limiting achievable output voltage ranges, and therefore their ability to efficiently power arbitrary loads at arbitrary voltages. In this work, we present ways to overcome this limitation by introducing new SC topologies that achieve many ratios with a small number of capacitors, while optimally allocating switch and capacitive resources, demonstrating high efficiency across wide output voltage ranges for next-generation power management applications.