Power converter circuit and method for controlling

• Main Authors: Hall, Jefferson W, Alberkrack, Jade H
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 22.07.2003

The present invention relates, in general, to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to power converter integrated circuits. A power converter circuit () and a method for controlling current in a transformer (). The power converter circuit () includes a controller circuit (), a duty cycle detector circuit (), a soft start circuit (), and a switch (). The switch () controls the current in the transformer (). The controller circuit () cooperates with the soft start circuit () to alter the duty cycle of the switch (). During initial start-up, the switch () operates at a minimum duty cycle and increases towards a maximum duty cycle to prevent transformer () saturation and potential failure of the switch (). In addition, the duty cycle detector circuit () alters the frequency at which the switch () turns on and off to reduce the power consumption of the power converter circuit ().