A Scalable Multiphase Current-Mode Buck Controller With Sub-Milliohm DCR Current Sensing and Synchronized Overcurrent Protection Yingyi Y an , Senior Member , IEEE, and

Abstract

This article presents a scalable multiphase peak current-mode Buck controller with sub-milliohm direct current resistance (DCR) current sensing and synchronized overcurrent protection. Low DCR current sensing capability is critical in pursuing high efficiency and precise current balancing. For this purpose, a sub-milliohm DCR current sensing circuit is proposed. The low-frequency current signals from all the phases are amplified by a time-shared amplifier, and the outputs are combined with the exaggerated high-frequency signals, respec- tively, to rebuild the proportional current sensing signals. The small signal analysis and the design guidelines of the proposed sensing scheme are presented. The proposed current sensing scheme enhances the signal-to-noise ratio, improves the phase to phase current balancing, and dramatically reduces the silicon area of the sensing circuit. A latch-up problem of hiccup mode over current protection in the multi-chip parallel system is addressed in this article. A synchronized hiccup mode over current protection scheme is designed to solve the issue without adding extra communication bus to the system. The proposed controller is fabricated using a 0.6- µm BiCMOS process, and the experimental results prove the effectiveness of the current sensing circuit and protection scheme.