Phased-array charge pump supply

Abstract

A charge pump system and method that may provide large supply voltages and currents with reduced ripple voltage at reduced ripple frequency. The charge pump system may include an array of charge pumps and a delay pipeline. The array of charge pumps may include a plurality of charge pumps. The delay pipeline may include a plurality of delay elements. The delay elements may respond to a global trigger signal to output a trigger signal to the array of charge pumps. Respective charge pumps may fire in response to the trigger signal.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A charge pump system, comprising:
 a first delay element and a second delay element, the first delay element having an input to receive a global trigger signal and an output coupled to an input of the second delay element;   a first intermediate delay element and a second intermediate delay element having inputs coupled to outputs of the first and second delay elements, respectively;   a first charge pump and a second charge pump having outputs coupled to a common output node and inputs coupled to outputs of the first and second intermediate delay elements, respectively, wherein each delay element includes an input for separately setting an individual delay for each respective delay element independently of the delay set for any other delay element.   
     
     
         2 . The charge pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second delay elements impose delays on the received global trigger signal based on the individually set delays of the first and second delay elements, respectively. 
     
     
         3 . The charge pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second intermediate delay elements impose delays on signals outputted by the first and second delay elements based on the individually set delays of the first and second intermediate delay elements, respectively. 
     
     
         4 . The charge pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the set delay for at least one delay element is not equal to the set delay of at least one other delay element. 
     
     
         5 . The charge pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the set delay for at least one delay element is adjusted for a subsequently received global trigger signal. 
     
     
         6 . The charge pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the inputs of the first and second charge pumps are directly coupled to the outputs of the first and second intermediate delay elements, respectively. 
     
     
         7 . The charge pump system of  claim 1 , wherein the inputs of the first and second intermediate delay elements are directly coupled to the outputs of the first and second delay elements, respectively. 
     
     
         8 . A charge pump system, comprising:
 a plurality of charge pumps each having an output connected to a common node and having an input for a trigger signal,   a chain of delay elements, a first delay element having an input for a global trigger signal, each delay element to impose an incremental delay on propagation of the trigger signal as it progresses through the chain;   a plurality of intermediate delay elements coupled between the charge pumps and the chain of delay elements to provide an additional delay to the trigger signal output from respective delay elements in the chain of delay elements prior to outputting a delayed trigger signal to inputs of the charge pumps,   wherein the delay elements in the chain of delay elements and the intermediate delay elements in the plurality of intermediate delay elements each have an individual delay adjustment input that allows the respective delay of each delay element to be separately adjusted independently of the delay set for any other delay element.   
     
     
         9 . The charge pump system of  claim 8 , wherein the delay set for at least one delay element is not equal to the delay set for any other delay element. 
     
     
         10 . A method of controlling a charge pump system, comprising:
 applying a global trigger signal to a delay pipeline, the delay pipeline including a plurality of delay elements;   delaying the global trigger signal for a predetermined delay time period by a first delay element in the delay pipeline;   outputting a first delayed trigger signal from the delay pipeline, and to a second delay element in the delay pipeline;   in response to the first delayed trigger signal firing a first charge pump to generate an output signal for a time duration;   outputting a second delayed trigger signal from the delay pipeline to a second charge pump in the charge pump array; and   in response to the second delayed trigger signal, firing the second charge pump to generate an output signal for a time duration,   further comprising separately adjusting delay time periods of each of the plurality of delay elements independently from one another with individual delay adjustments of each of the plurality of delay elements.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 applying the first delayed trigger signal to the first charge pump indicated by a routing control signal, wherein the first charge pump is randomly selected based on the routing control signal.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 reapplying the global trigger signal after all charge pumps in the charge pump array have received a trigger signal to fire.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the time duration in which the first charge pump generates an output signal is longer than the predetermined delay time period. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first delayed trigger signal output from the delay pipeline is output to a first charge pump in a charge pump array. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving at an intermediate delay a trigger signal output from the delay pipeline, wherein the intermediate delay includes a plurality of delay elements;   delaying the trigger signal for an additional delay period; and   outputting additionally delayed trigger signals to respective charge pumps in a charge pump array.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein a pseudo-random adjustment of each of the delay elements in the delay pipeline and/or the delay elements in the intermediate delay is performed by separately adjusting the individual delay on each delay element in both the delay pipeline and the intermediate delay independently. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein a pseudo-random adjustment of the delay elements in the delay pipeline and/or the delay elements in the intermediate delay is performed by separately adjusting the delay on all of the delay elements at once in both the delay pipeline and the intermediate delay. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein separately adjusting delay periods further comprises setting a delay of at least one delay element of the plurality of delay elements to be different from a delay of at least one other delay element of the plurality of delay elements. 
     
     
         19 . A charge pump system, comprising:
 a plurality of charge pumps each having an output connected to a common node and having an input for a trigger signal,   a chain of delay elements, a first delay element having an input for a global trigger signal, each delay element to impose an incremental delay on the propagation of the trigger signal as it progresses through the chain;   a routing system coupled between the charge pumps and the chain of delay elements to route the trigger signal from an output of respective delay elements to inputs of the charge pumps according to a control signal, wherein the routing system comprises a plurality of multiplexors, each multiplexor coupled to all outputs of the chain of delay elements and having an output coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of charge pumps.   
     
     
         20 . The charge pump system of  claim 19 , wherein the routing control signal determines which multiplexor is to pass the trigger signal received from one of the outputs of the chain of delay elements to the corresponding one of the plurality of charge pumps.