U.S. patent application number 17/209248 was filed with the patent office on 2022-01-27 for voltage divider circuit regarding battery voltage, and associated electronic device equipped with voltage divider circuit.
The applicant listed for this patent is Artery Technology Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Chao Li, JIANGWEI LIU, ZHENGXIANG WANG.
Application Number | 20220026941 17/209248 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005524129 |
Filed Date | 2022-01-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220026941 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
WANG; ZHENGXIANG ; et
al. |
January 27, 2022 |
VOLTAGE DIVIDER CIRCUIT REGARDING BATTERY VOLTAGE, AND ASSOCIATED
ELECTRONIC DEVICE EQUIPPED WITH VOLTAGE DIVIDER CIRCUIT
Abstract
A voltage divider circuit regarding a battery voltage and an
associated electronic device equipped with the voltage divider
circuit are provided. The voltage divider circuit may include a
first level shifter circuit, a second level shifter circuit and a
controlled voltage divider. The first level shifter circuit
selectively performs a first level shifting operation on an
original enable signal according to respective voltage levels of
multiple control signals to generate a first enable signal. The
second level shifter circuit selectively performs a second level
shifting operation on the first enable signal according to a
voltage level of the first enable signal to generate a second
enable signal. The controlled voltage divider selectively performs
a voltage dividing operation on the battery voltage according to a
voltage level of the second enable signal to generate a divided
voltage of the battery voltage to be an output of the voltage
divider circuit.
Inventors: |
WANG; ZHENGXIANG;
(Chongqing, CN) ; LIU; JIANGWEI; (Chongqing,
CN) ; Li; Chao; (Chongqing, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Artery Technology Co., Ltd. |
Chongqing |
|
CN |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005524129 |
Appl. No.: |
17/209248 |
Filed: |
March 23, 2021 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H02J 7/0063 20130101;
G05F 1/56 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G05F 1/56 20060101
G05F001/56; H02J 7/00 20060101 H02J007/00 |
Claims
1. A voltage divider circuit regarding a battery voltage, the
voltage divider circuit being positioned in an electronic device,
the battery voltage being a voltage of a battery of the electronic
device, the voltage divider circuit comprising: a first level
shifter circuit that operates based on a first power voltage of the
electronic device, the first level shifter circuit arranged to
receive a plurality of control signals generated in the electronic
device, and selectively perform a first level shifting operation on
an original enable signal according to respective voltage levels of
the plurality of control signals to generate a first enable signal
in a voltage domain of the first power voltage, for performing
enabling control for the voltage divider circuit; a second level
shifter circuit that operates based on the battery voltage, the
second level shifter circuit coupled to the first level shifter
circuit, the second level shifter circuit arranged to receive the
first enable signal, and selectively perform a second level
shifting operation on the first enable signal according to a
voltage level of the first enable signal to generate a second
enable signal in a voltage domain of the battery voltage, for
performing enabling control for the voltage divider circuit; and a
controlled voltage divider that operates based on the battery
voltage, the controlled voltage divider coupled to the second level
shifter circuit, the controlled voltage divider arranged to receive
the second enable signal, and selectively perform a voltage
dividing operation on the battery voltage according to a voltage
level of the second enable signal to generate a divided voltage of
the battery voltage to be an output of the voltage divider
circuit.
2. The voltage divider circuit of claim 1, wherein the first power
voltage represents a main power of a microcontroller of the
electronic device.
3. The voltage divider circuit of claim 1, wherein the plurality of
control signals comprise a power-on reset signal of the electronic
device and an isolation signal of a microcontroller of the
electronic device, wherein the power-on reset signal is configured
to control power-on reset of the electronic device, and the
isolation signal is configured to control power isolation of the
microcontroller.
4. The voltage divider circuit of claim 3, wherein the first level
shifter circuit comprises: at least one logic circuit, arranged to
perform logic control according to the power-on reset signal and
the isolation signal to generate at least one logic signal; at
least one switch, coupled to the at least one logic circuit,
arranged to operate according to the at least one logic signal to
selectively make at least one signal path be conductive; and a
first level shifter, coupled to the at least one switch, arranged
to, under control of the at least one switch, selectively perform
the first level shifting operation on the original enable signal to
generate the first enable signal, wherein whether the first level
shifter performs the first level shifting operation on the original
enable signal corresponds to whether the at least one switch makes
the at least one signal path be conductive.
5. The voltage divider circuit of claim 4, wherein when the
power-on reset signal indicates a power-on reset phase of the
electronic device, the at least one logic circuit controls the at
least one switch through the at least one logic signal to prevent
making the at least one signal path be conductive.
6. The voltage divider circuit of claim 4, wherein when the
isolation signal indicates a standby mode of the electronic device,
the at least one logic circuit controls the at least one switch
through the at least one logic signal to prevent making the at
least one signal path be conductive.
7. The voltage divider circuit of claim 4, wherein, if the power-on
reset signal indicates a power-on reset phase of the electronic
device or the isolation signal indicates a standby mode of the
electronic device, the at least one logic circuit controls the at
least one switch through the at least one logic signal to prevent
making the at least one signal path be conductive; otherwise, the
at least one logic circuit controls the at least one switch through
the at least one logic signal to make the at least one signal path
be conductive.
8. The voltage divider circuit of claim 4, wherein the at least one
logic circuit comprises: a NAND gate, arranged to generate a first
logic signal according to the power-on reset signal and the
isolation signal; and an inverter, coupled to the NAND gate,
arranged to generate the at least one logic signal according to the
first logic signal.
9. The voltage divider circuit of claim 4, wherein the first level
shifter circuit further comprises: an inverter, coupled to the at
least one logic circuit, arranged to generate another logic signal
according to the at least one logic signal; and another switch,
coupled to the inverter, arranged to operate according to the other
logic signal to selectively make a signal path between an output of
the first level shifter circuit and a ground voltage be
conductive.
10. The voltage divider circuit of claim 4, wherein when the at
least one switch makes the at least one signal path be conductive,
the first level shifter performs the first level shifting operation
on the original enable signal to generate the first enable
signal.
11. The voltage divider circuit of claim 1, wherein the second
level shifter circuit comprises: a second level shifter, coupled to
the first level shifter circuit, arranged to selectively perform
the second level shifting operation on the first enable signal
according to the voltage level of the first enable signal to
generate the second enable signal, wherein the second level shifter
comprises a set of transistors coupled to each other and coupled
between the battery voltage and a ground voltage, to form an
inverter in the second level shifter; and a resistor, installed on
a current path that passes through the set of transistors and is
positioned between the battery voltage and the ground voltage, the
resistor arranged to limit any possible leakage current on the
current path for at least one operation mode of multiple operation
modes of the electronic device.
12. The voltage divider circuit of claim 11, wherein the plurality
of control signals comprise a power-on reset signal of the
electronic device and an isolation signal of a microcontroller of
the electronic device, wherein the power-on reset signal is
configured to control power-on reset of the electronic device, and
the isolation signal is configured to control power isolation of
the microcontroller; and the first level shifter circuit comprises:
at least one logic circuit, arranged to perform logic control
according to the power-on reset signal and the isolation signal to
generate at least one logic signal; at least one switch, coupled to
the at least one logic circuit, arranged to operate according to
the at least one logic signal to selectively make at least one
signal path be conductive; and a first level shifter, coupled to
the at least one switch, arranged to, under control of the at least
one switch, selectively perform the first level shifting operation
on the original enable signal to generate the first enable signal;
wherein a multi-stage architecture formed with the first level
shifter circuit, the second level shifter circuit, and the
controlled voltage divider allows a whole of the voltage divider
circuit to be implemented in a chip without need of any external
components outside the chip.
13. The voltage divider circuit of claim 1, wherein the controlled
voltage divider comprises: a set of resistors connected in series,
coupled between the battery voltage and a ground voltage, arranged
to selectively perform the voltage dividing operation on the
battery voltage to generate the divided voltage of the battery
voltage to be the output of the voltage divider circuit; and a
switch, installed on a current path that passes through the set of
resistors and is positioned between the battery voltage and the
ground voltage, the switch arranged to operate according to the
second enable signal to selectively make the current path be
conductive.
14. The electronic device equipped with the voltage divider circuit
of claim 1, wherein the electronic device further comprises: a
microcontroller, arranged to control operations of the electronic
device; at least one control signal generator, arranged to generate
the plurality of control signals; and at least one power supply
circuit, arranged to generate at least the first power voltage.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention is related to voltage control, and
more particularly, to a voltage divider circuit regarding a battery
voltage and an associated electronic device equipped with the
voltage divider circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
[0002] Various voltage divider circuits for the battery voltage in
a portable electronic device have been proposed in the related art,
but there are some problems. For example, a first voltage divider
circuit may have at least one external Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor
Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) and at least one external resistor
that are located outside of a chip, and at least one additional
current path is added, where implementing the aforementioned at
least one external MOSFET and the at least one external resistor
will increase associated costs, and the current leakage caused by
the at least one additional current path will lead to increased
power consumption. For another example, a second voltage divider
circuit may have some components integrated into a chip, but it is
not robust to complicated working modes of a microcontroller.
Therefore, there is a need for an integrated voltage divider
circuit that is robust to various working modes of the
microcontroller to enhance the overall performance of the portable
electronic device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] It is an objective of the present invention to provide a
voltage divider circuit regarding a battery voltage, and an
associated electronic device equipped with the voltage divider
circuit, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.
[0004] It is another objective of the present invention to provide
a voltage divider circuit regarding a battery voltage, and an
associated electronic device equipped with the voltage divider
circuit, in order to achieve optimal performance of the electronic
device without introducing any side effect or in a way that is less
likely to introduce a side effect.
[0005] At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a
voltage divider circuit regarding a battery voltage, where the
voltage divider circuit is positioned in an electronic device, and
the battery voltage is a voltage of a battery of the electronic
device. The voltage divider circuit may comprise a first level
shifter circuit that operates based on a first power voltage of the
electronic device, and comprise a second level shifter circuit and
a controlled voltage divider that operate based on the battery
voltage. The second level shifter circuit is coupled to the first
level shifter circuit, and the controlled voltage divider is
coupled to the second level shifter circuit. For example, the first
level shifter circuit can be arranged to receive a plurality of
control signals generated in the electronic device, and selectively
perform a first level shifting operation on an original enable
signal according to respective voltage levels of the plurality of
control signals to generate a first enable signal in a voltage
domain of the first power voltage, for performing enabling control
for the voltage divider circuit. In addition, the second level
shifter circuit can be arranged to receive the first enable signal,
and selectively perform a second level shifting operation on the
first enable signal according to a voltage level of the first
enable signal to generate a second enable signal in a voltage
domain of the battery voltage, for performing enabling control for
the voltage divider circuit. Additionally, the controlled voltage
divider can be arranged to receive the second enable signal, and
selectively perform a voltage dividing operation on the battery
voltage according to a voltage level of the second enable signal to
generate a divided voltage of the battery voltage to be an output
of the voltage divider circuit.
[0006] At least one embodiment of the present invention provides
the electronic device equipped with the voltage divider circuit
mentioned above. The electronic device may further comprise: a
microcontroller, arranged to control operations of the electronic
device; at least one control signal generator, arranged to generate
the plurality of control signals; and at least one power supply
circuit, arranged to generate at least the first power voltage.
[0007] In comparison with the conventional architecture, the
voltage divider circuit of the present invention is robust to
various working modes of the microcontroller, and does not require
external MOSFETs and external resistors when implemented as an
integrated voltage divider circuit. In addition, implementing the
embodiments of the present invention can achieve the goals of low
cost and low leakage current.
[0008] These and other objectives of the present invention will no
doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a voltage divider circuit regarding a
battery voltage according to an embodiment of the invention.
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates some implementation details of a first
level shifter circuit in the voltage divider circuit shown in FIG.
1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates some implementation details of a second
level shifter circuit in the voltage divider circuit shown in FIG.
1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates some implementation details of a
controlled voltage divider in the voltage divider circuit shown in
FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates some associated signals in the voltage
divider circuit shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0014] FIG. 6 illustrates some associated signals in the voltage
divider circuit shown in FIG. 1 according to another embodiment of
the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 7 illustrates some associated signals in the voltage
divider circuit shown in FIG. 1 according to another embodiment of
the present invention.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a diagram of an electronic device equipped with
the voltage divider circuit shown in FIG. 1 according to an
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a voltage divider circuit 100
regarding a battery voltage VBAT according to an embodiment of the
invention, where the voltage divider circuit 100 may be positioned
in an electronic device, and the battery voltage VBAT may be the
voltage of the battery of the electronic device. As shown in FIG.
1, the voltage divider circuit 100 may comprise a first level
shifter circuit LVST1 that operates based on a power voltage VCC1
of the electronic device, and comprises a second level shifter
circuit LVST1 and a controlled voltage divider DIV that operate
based on the battery voltage VBAT. The second level shifter circuit
LVST2 can be coupled to the first level shifter circuit LVST1, and
the controlled voltage divider DIV can be coupled to the second
level shifter circuit LVST2.
[0018] According to this embodiment, the first level shifter
circuit LVST1 can receive a plurality of control signals generated
in the electronic device, such as a power-on reset (POR) signal
POR_N_HV and an isolation signal ISO_N_HV of a microcontroller (not
shown in FIG. 1) of the electronic device, where the power-on reset
signal POR_N_HV can be configured to control the power-on reset of
the electronic device and the isolation signal ISO_N_HV can be
configured to control the power isolation of the microcontroller.
The first level shifter circuit LVST1 can selectively perform a
first level shifting operation on an original enable signal EN_LV
in the voltage domain DOMAIN_VCCK of the power voltage VCCK (not
shown in FIG. 1) according to the respective voltage levels of the
plurality of control signals to generate a first enable signal
EN_HV in the voltage domain DOMAIN_VCC1 of the power voltage VCC1,
for performing enabling control of the voltage divider circuit 100.
For example, the voltage level of the first enable signal EN_HV may
be limited by the voltage level of the power voltage VCC1. In
particular, the high voltage level of the first enable signal EN_HV
may be equal to or slightly less than the voltage level of the
power voltage VCC1. In addition, the second level shifter circuit
LVST2 can receive the first enable signal EN_HV, and selectively
perform a second level shifting operation on the first enable
signal EN_HV according to the voltage level of the first enable
signal EN_HV to generate a second enable signal ENB_VBAT in the
voltage domain DOMAIN_VBAT of the battery voltage VBAT, for
performing enabling control of the voltage divider circuit 100. For
example, the voltage level of the second enable signal ENB_VBAT may
be limited by the voltage level of the battery voltage VBAT. In
particular, the high voltage level of the second enable signal
ENB_VBAT may be equal to or slightly less than the voltage level of
the battery voltage VBAT. Additionally, the controlled voltage
divider DIV can receive the second enable signal ENB_VBAT, and
selectively perform a voltage dividing operation on the battery
voltage VBAT according to the voltage level of the second enable
signal ENB_VBAT to generate the divided voltage VBAT_DIV of the
battery voltage VBAT to be the output of the voltage divider
circuit 100.
[0019] For better comprehension, the original enable signal EN_LV
and the first enable signal EN_HV can be active high, and the high
logic level "1" and the low logic level "0" (e.g. the high voltage
level and the low voltage level) of each signal of these signals
may represent enabling and disabling the function controlled by
this signal, respectively, where the first level shifter circuit
LVST1 can convert the high logic level "1" and the low logic level
"0" of the original enable signal EN_LV in the voltage domain
DOMAIN_VCCK into the high logic level "1" and the low logic level
"0" of the first enable signal EN_HV in the voltage domain
DOMAIN_VCC1, respectively, but the present invention is not limited
thereto. In addition, the second enable signal ENB_VBAT can be
active low, and the low logic level "0" and the high logic level
"1" (e.g. low voltage level and the high voltage level) of the
second enable signal ENB_VBAT may represent enabling and disabling
the function controlled by this signal, respectively, where the
second level shifter circuit LVST2 can convert the high logic level
"1" and the low logic level "0" of the first enable signal EN_HV in
the voltage domain DOMAIN_VCC1 into the low logic level "0" and the
high logic level "1" of the second enable signal ENB_VBAT in the
voltage domain DOMAIN_VBAT, respectively, but the present invention
is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the original
enable signal EN_LV, the first enable signal EN_HV, and the second
enable signal ENB_VBAT may vary. For example, any signal of the
original enable signal EN_LV and the first enable signal EN_HV can
be implemented as active low. For another example, the second
enable signal ENB_VBAT can be implemented as active high.
[0020] According to some embodiments, the voltage divider circuit
100 can operate according to a first reference voltage such as the
ground voltage GND and a plurality of second reference voltages
such as the battery voltage VBAT and the power voltages VCC1, VCCK,
etc. For example, the power voltages VCC1 and VCCK may respectively
represent the main power and the core power of the microcontroller,
and the respective voltage domains DOMAIN_VCC1 and DOMAIN_VCCK of
the power voltages VCC1 and VCCK may be referred to as the main
voltage domain and the core voltage domain, respectively, where the
power voltage VCC1 is typically greater than the power voltage
VCCK, and the electronic device can utilize a voltage regulator
therein, such as a low dropout (LDO) regulator, to regulate the
power voltage VCC1 to generate the power voltage VCCK as the core
power, for driving the digital domain of the microcontroller. In
addition, the original enable signal EN_LV, the first enable signal
EN_HV, and the second enable signal ENB_VBAT can be regarded as
voltage divider enable signals, and more particularly, can be
voltage divider enable signals corresponding to different voltage
domains DOMAIN_VCCK, DOMAIN_VCC1, and DOMAIN_VBAT, respectively.
For example, the original enable signal EN_LV can be a software
command signal received from the microcontroller.
[0021] According to some embodiments, the voltage divider circuit
100 may comprise transistors of different types of channels, such
as transistors belonging to a first type and a second type,
respectively. For example, subsequent embodiments indicate that the
architecture shown in FIG. 1 can use some types of
Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs), such
as P-type MOSFETs and N-type MOSFETs, but the present invention is
not limited thereto.
[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates some implementation details of a first
level shifter circuit LVST1 in the voltage divider circuit 100
shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present
invention. The first level shifter circuit LVST1 may comprise at
least one logic circuit (e.g. one or more logic circuits) which may
be collectively referred to as the logic circuit 112, at least one
switch (e.g. one or more switches) which is coupled to the logic
circuit 112 and may be collectively referred to as the switch 114,
and a first level shifter 116 coupled to the switch 114. For
example, the logic circuit 112 may comprise a NAND gate 112N and an
inverter INV3 coupled to the NAND gate 112N, the switch 114 may
comprise transistors MN1 and MN2, and the first level shifter 116
may comprise transistors MP1, MP2, MN3, and MN4, and an inverter
INV2, where the respective control terminals of the transistors MP2
and 1V11.sup.31, such as the gate terminals thereof, are
respectively coupled to the nodes O1 and 02 below the transistors
MP1 and MP2, and the respective control terminals of the
transistors MN4 and MN3, such as the gate terminals thereof, are
respectively coupled to the input terminal and the output terminal
of the inverter INV2. The first level shifter circuit LVST1 may
further comprise inverters INV1 and INV4 respectively coupled to
the inverter INV1 and the original enable signal EN_LV, another
switch such as a transistor MN5, and a resistor R1. The input
terminal of the first level shifter 116, such as the input terminal
of the inverter INV2, is coupled to the output terminal of the
inverter INV1, and the respective first terminals of the transistor
MN5 and the resistor R1 are coupled to the output terminal of the
first level shifter 116, such as a terminal positioned at or near
the node O2, and the control terminal of the transistor MN5, such
as the gate terminal thereof, is coupled to the output terminal of
the inverter INV4.
[0023] The logic circuit 112 can be configured to perform logic
control according to the power-on reset signal POR_N_HV and the
isolation signal ISO_N_HV to generate at least one logic signal
such as the reset signal RESET, and the aforementioned at least one
switch such as the transistors MN1 and MN2 can be configured to
operate according to the at least one logic signal such as the
reset signal RESET to selectively make at least one signal path
such as a first signal path between the transistors MP1 and MN3 and
a second signal path between the transistors MP2 and MN4 be
conductive, and the first level shifter 116 can be configured to,
under the control of the switch 114, selectively perform the first
level shifting operation on the original enable signal EN_LV to
generate the first enable signal EN_HV, wherein whether the first
level shifter 116 performs the first level shifting operation on
the original enable signal EN_LV corresponds to whether the switch
114 makes the aforementioned at least one signal path such as the
first signal path and the second signal path be conductive. When
the switch 114 makes the aforementioned at least one signal path be
conductive, the first level shifter 116 performs the first level
shifting operation on the original enable signal EN_LV to generate
the first enable signal EN_HV, such as the first enable signal
EN_HV carrying the high logic level "1". For example, when the
power-on reset signal POR_N_HV indicates a power-on reset phase of
the electronic device, the logic circuit 112 can control the switch
114 through the aforementioned at least one logic signal such as
the reset signal RESET to prevent making the aforementioned at
least one signal path be conductive. When the isolation signal
ISO_N_HV indicates a standby mode of the electronic device, the
logic circuit 112 can control the switch 114 through the
aforementioned at least one logic signal such as the reset signal
RESET to prevent making the aforementioned at least one signal path
be conductive.
[0024] More particularly, in the logic circuit 112, the NAND gate
112N can generate a first logic signal according to the power-on
reset signal POR_N_HV and the isolation signal ISO_N_HV, and the
inverter INV3 can generate the inverted signal of the first logic
signal according to the first logic signal to be the
above-mentioned at least one logic signal such as a reset signal
RESET. Thus, if the power-on reset signal POR_N_HV indicates the
power-on reset phase of the electronic device or the isolation
signal ISO_N_HV indicates the standby mode of the electronic
device, the logic circuit 112 can control the switch 114 through
the aforementioned at least one logic signal such as the reset
signal RESET to prevent making the aforementioned at least one
signal path be conductive, to reset the first level shifter 116;
otherwise, the logic circuit 112 can control the switch 114 through
the aforementioned at least one logic signal such as the reset
signal RESET to make the aforementioned at least one signal path be
conductive, to allow the first level shifter circuit LVST1 to
perform the first level shifting operation on the original enable
signal EN_LV to generate the first enable signal EN_HV. For
example, the power-on reset signal POR_N_HV, the isolation signal
ISO_N_HV, and the reset signal RESET can be active low, and the low
logic level "0" and the high logic level "1" (e.g. the low voltage
level and the high voltage level) of each signal of these signals
may represent enabling and disabling the function controlled by
this signal, respectively; and the reset signal RESET_N (such as
the inverted signal of the reset signal RESET) can be active high,
and the high logic level "1" and the low logic level "0" (e.g. the
high voltage level and the low voltage level) of the reset signal
RESET_N may represent enabling and disabling the function
controlled by this signal, respectively. When the power-on reset
signal POR_N_HV carries the low logic level "0" (which may indicate
that the electronic device is in the power-on reset phase) and/or
the isolation signal ISO_N_HV carries the low logic level "0"
(which may indicate the power isolation of the microcontroller, for
example, the electronic device is in the standby mode), the reset
signals RESET and RESET_N can respectively carry the low logic
level "0" and the high logic level "1" to reset the first level
shifter 116; otherwise, in a situation where both of the
transistors MN1 and MN2 are turned on to make the respective lower
terminals of the transistors MP1 and MP2 (or the nodes O1 and O2)
be respectively conducted to the respective upper terminals of the
transistors MN3 and MN4, the first level shifter 116 can operate
normally to allow the first level shifter circuit LVST1 to perform
the first level shifting operation on the original enable signal
EN_LV to generate the first enable signal EN_HV in the voltage
domain DOMAIN_VCC1 of the power voltage VCC1.
[0025] FIG. 3 illustrates some implementation details of a second
level shifter circuit LVST2 in the voltage divider circuit 100
shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present
invention. The second level shifter circuit LVST2 may comprise a
second level shifter 126 coupled to the first level shifter circuit
LVST1, and a resistor R2 installed on the second level shifter 126,
and comprises an inverter INV7 coupled to the second level shifter
126. The second level shifter 126 may comprise transistors MP4,
MP5, MN7, and MN8, and comprises a set of transistors MP3 and MN6
coupled to each other and coupled between the battery voltage VBAT
and the ground voltage GND, to form an inverter 122 in the second
level shifter 126, where the respective control terminals of the
transistors MP5 and MP4, such as the gate terminals thereof, are
respectively coupled to the nodes O3 and O4 below the transistors
MP4 and MP5, and the respective control terminals of the transistor
MN7 and MN8, such as the gate terminals thereof, are respectively
coupled to the input terminal and output terminal of the inverter
122, to receive the first enable signal EN_HV and the inverted
signal ENB thereof, respectively. The second level shifter circuit
LVST2 can utilize the second level shifter 126 to selectively
perform the second level shifting operation on the first enable
signal EN_HV according to the voltage level of the first enable
signal EN_HV to generate an intermediate enable signal on the node
O4, and utilize the inverter INV7 to invert the intermediate enable
signal to generate the inverted signal of the intermediate enable
signal to be the second enable signal ENB_VBAT. In addition, the
resistor R2 is installed on a current path that passes through the
set of transistors MP3 and MN6 and is positioned between the
battery voltage VBAT and the ground voltage GND. The resistor R2
can be configured to limit any possible leakage current I_add on
this current path for at least one operation mode of multiple
operation modes of the electronic device. The parameters (e.g.
sizes) of the resistor R2 and the transistor MP3 can be properly
designed to block any possible leakage current I_add, in
particular, when VCC1<VBAT. For example, the leakage current
I_add can be expressed with the following equation:
I_add=(VBAT-VCC1-Vthp)/R2;
where Vthp represents the threshold voltage of the transistor MP3,
such as 0.5 Volt (V), but the present invention is not limited
thereto. According to some embodiments, the threshold voltage may
vary.
[0026] FIG. 4 illustrates some implementation details of a
controlled voltage divider DIV in the voltage divider circuit 100
shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present
invention. The controlled voltage divider DIV may comprise a set of
resistors connected in series and coupled between the battery
voltage VBAT and the ground voltage GND, such as the resistors {R3,
R4, R5, R6}, and comprise a switch installed on a current path that
passes through the set of transistors and is positioned between the
battery voltage VBAT and the ground voltage GND, such as the
transistor MP6, where the respective resistance values of the
resistors {R3, R4, R5, R6} can be equal to each other, but the
present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the type of
the switch such as the transistor MP6, the number of resistors in
the set of resistors, the resistance values of the resistors in the
set of resistors, and/or the position of the switch on the current
path may vary. In addition, the set of resistors such as the
resistors {R3, R4, R5, R6} can be configured to selectively perform
the voltage dividing operation on the battery voltage VBAT to
generate the divided voltage VBAT_DIV of the battery voltage VBAT
to be the output of the voltage divider circuit 100. This switch
such as the transistor MP6 can be configured to operate according
to the second enable signal ENB_VBAT to selectively make this
current path be conductive.
[0027] According to the architecture shown in FIGS. 2-4, when any
signal of the power-on reset signal POR_N_HV and the isolation
signal ISO_N_HV carries the low logic level "0", the reset signal
RESET carries the low logic level "0" to turn off the transistors
MN1 and MN2, and the reset signal RESET_N carries the high logic
level "1" to turn on the transistor MN5, to make the first enable
signal EN_HV carry the low logic level "0" (e.g., be equal to or
slightly greater than the ground voltage GND) to turn on the
transistor MP3 and turn off the transistors MN6 and MN7, where the
inverted signal ENB of the first enable signal EN_HV carries the
high logic level "1" to turn on the transistor MN8. In this
situation, the respective voltage levels of the nodes O3 and O4 are
the high logic level "1" and the low logic level "0" respectively.
As the intermediate enable signal on the node O4 carries the low
logic level "0", the second enable signal ENB_VBAT carries the high
logic level "1" to turn off the transistor MP6, and therefore turn
off the controlled voltage divider DIV. In addition, when each
signal of the power-on reset signal POR_N_HV and the isolation
signal ISO_N_HV carries the high logic level "1", the reset signal
RESET carries the high logic level "1" to turn on the transistors
MN1 and MN2, and the reset signal RESET_N carries the low logic
level "0" to turn off the transistor MN5, to make the logic level
of the first enable signal EN_HV correspond to the logic level of
the original enable signal EN_LV. For example, when the original
enable signal EN_LV carries the high logic level "1", the first
enable signal EN_HV also carries the high logic level "1" (e.g., is
equal to or slightly less than the power voltage VCC1) to turn off
the transistor MP3 and turn on the transistors MN6 and MN7, where
the inverted signal ENB of the first enable signal EN_HV carries
the low logic level "0" to turn off the transistor MN8. In this
situation, the respective voltage levels of the nodes O3 and O4 are
the low logic level "0" and the high logic level "1" respectively.
As the intermediate enable signal on the node O4 carries the high
logic level "1", the second enable signal ENB_VBAT carries the low
logic level "0" to turn on the transistor MP6, and therefore turn
on the controlled voltage divider DIV. For another example, when
the original enable signal EN_LV carries the low logic level "0",
the first enable signal EN_HV also carries the low logic level "0"
(e.g., is equal to or slightly greater than the ground voltage GND)
to turn on the transistor MP3 and turn off the transistors MN6 and
MN7, where the inverted signal ENB of the first enable signal EN_HV
carries the high logic level "1" to turn on the transistor MN8. In
this situation, the respective voltage levels of the nodes O3 and
O4 are the high logic level "1" and the low logic level "0"
respectively. As the intermediate enable signal on the node O4
carries the low logic level "0", the second enable signal ENB_VBAT
carries the high logic level "1" to turn off the transistor MP6,
and therefore turn off the controlled voltage divider DIV.
[0028] Based on the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-4, the multi-stage
architecture formed with the first level shifter circuit LVST1, the
second level shifter circuit LVST2, and the controlled voltage
divider DIV allows the whole of the voltage divider circuit 100 to
be implemented in a chip without need of any external components
outside the chip. In comparison with the conventional architecture,
the voltage divider circuit of the present invention is robust to
various working modes of the microcontroller, and does not require
external MOSFETs and external resistors when implemented as an
integrated voltage divider circuit, and can achieve the goals of
low cost and low leakage current.
[0029] FIG. 5 illustrates some associated signals in the voltage
divider circuit 100 shown in FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of
the present invention, where the horizontal axis t represents time,
which can be measured in unit of millisecond (ms). In this
embodiment, the battery voltage VBAT and the original enable signal
EN_LV are respectively illustrated in unit of volt (V), and the
divided voltage VBAT_DIV is illustrated in unit of millivolt (mV),
the current Current_LVST2 consumed by the second level shifter
circuit LVST2 is illustrated in unit of picoampere (pA), and the
current Current_DIV consumed by the controlled voltage divider DIV
is illustrated in unit of microampere (.mu.A). For example,
VBAT=1.8 V and VCC1=3.6 V. After the original enable signal EN_LV
is pulled up from 0.0 V at t=1.0 ms, the battery voltage VBAT, the
original enable signal EN_LV, the divided voltage VBAT_DIV, the
current Current_LVST2, and the current Current_DIV can be equal to
1.8 V, 1.2 V, 449.747 mV, -14.0367 pA, and 44.6961 .mu.A at
t=1.00080142 ms, respectively.
[0030] FIG. 6 illustrates some associated signals in the voltage
divider circuit 100 shown in FIG. 1 according to another embodiment
of the present invention, where the horizontal axis t represents
time, which can be measured in unit of millisecond (ms). In this
embodiment, the battery voltage VBAT and the original enable signal
EN_LV are respectively illustrated in unit of volt (V), the divided
voltage VBAT_DIV is illustrated in unit of millivolt (mV), the
current Current_LVST2 is illustrated in unit of picoampere (pA),
and the current Current_DIV is illustrated in unit of microampere
(.mu.A). For example, VBAT=3.3 V and VCC1=3.3 V. After the original
enable signal EN_LV is pulled up from 0.0 V at t=1.0 ms, the
battery voltage VBAT, the original enable signal EN_LV, the divided
voltage VBAT_DIV, the current Current_LVST2, and the current
Current_DIV can be equal to 3.3 V, 1.2 V, 824.759 mV, 134.282 pA,
and 81.9766 .mu.A at t=1.00081697 ms, respectively.
[0031] FIG. 7 illustrates some associated signals in the voltage
divider circuit 100 shown in FIG. 1 according to another embodiment
of the present invention, where the horizontal axis t represents
time, which can be measured in unit of millisecond (ms). In this
embodiment, the battery voltage VBAT and the original enable signal
EN_LV are respectively illustrated in unit of volt (V), and the
divided voltage VBAT_DIV is illustrated in unit of millivolt (mV),
and the currents Current_LVST2 and Current_DIV are respectively
illustrated in unit of microampere (.mu.A). For example, VBAT=3.6 V
and VCC1=1.8 V. After the original enable signal EN_LV is pulled up
from 0.0 V at t=1.0 ms, the battery voltage VBAT, the original
enable signal EN_LV, the divided voltage VBAT_DIV, the current
Current_LVST2, and the current Current_DIV can be equal to 3.6 V,
1.2 V, 899.652 mV, 1.1281 pA, and 89.4375 pA at t=1.00080142 ms,
respectively.
[0032] According to some embodiments, the current Current_LVST2 may
represent the leakage current I_add, where among all cases
regarding various relationships between the battery voltage VBAT
and the power voltage VCC1 (e.g. VBAT<VCC1, VBAT=VCC1 and
VBAT>VCC1), the leakage current I_add in the case of
VBAT<VCC1 as shown in FIG. 5 and the case of VBAT=VCC1 as shown
in FIG. 6 can be omitted and can be regarded as zero, and only in
the case of VBAT>VCC1 as shown in FIG. 7, there is a slight
leakage current I_add (e.g. I_add=Current_LVST2=1.1281 .mu.A). Even
in the case of VBAT>VCC1, the leakage current I_add can be
easily limited by the resistor R2 which has a smaller resistance
value than that of the resistor of the conventional architecture.
For example, the resistance value of the resistor R2 can be merely
100 kilo-ohm (k.OMEGA.). However, in the conventional architecture,
to achieve such a small leakage current (e.g. I=1.1281 pA) under
the same battery voltage VBAT=3.6 V, the resistance value of the
resistor required by the conventional architecture can be expressed
as follows:
VBAT/I=((3.6 V)/(1.1281 .mu.A)).apprxeq.3.2 mega-ohm
(M.OMEGA.);
where the resistance value of this resistor is very large, which
means that an external resistor is required. In addition, the
conventional architecture still has significant leakage current
when VBAT<VCC1. Therefore, the voltage divider circuit 100 of
the present invention is much better than the conventional
architecture, and more particularly, has the advantages of low
cost, low leakage current, etc.
[0033] FIG. 8 is a diagram of an electronic device 10 equipped with
the voltage divider circuit 100 shown in FIG. 1 according to an
embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 10 may
comprise a microcontroller 12, at least one control signal
generator such as the control signal generator 14, at least one
power supply circuit such as the power supply circuit 16, a battery
18, and the voltage divider circuit 100, where the electronic
device 10, the microcontroller 12 and the battery 18 can be taken
as examples of the above-mentioned electronic device, the
above-mentioned microcontroller, and the above-mentioned battery,
respectively. The microcontroller 12 can be configured to control
the operations of the electronic device 10, the control signal
generator 14 can be configured to generate the plurality of control
signals such as the power-on reset signal POR_N_HV and the
isolation signal ISO_N_HV, and the power supply circuit 16 can be
configured to generate the power voltages VCC1, VCCK, etc. For
example, in a situation where the microcontroller 12 enables the
voltage dividing function of the voltage divider circuit 100, the
voltage divider circuit 100 outputs the divided voltage VBAT_DIV of
the battery voltage VBAT, to allow the electronic device 10 to
utilize an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) therein to receive and
monitor the divided voltage VBAT_DIV to monitor the battery voltage
VBAT without any input signal saturation problem, but the present
invention is not limited thereto. In addition, the voltage divider
circuit 100 and the microcontroller 12 can be integrated into the
same chip (or die), and there is no need to implement any external
MOSFET or any external resistor outside this chip (or die) for the
voltage divider circuit 100. For brevity, similar descriptions for
this embodiment are not repeated in detail here.
[0034] The voltage divider circuit of the present invention can
prevent any significant leakage current that is common in the
related art in various situations. No matter in which of multiple
situations of the above-mentioned electronic device, such as the
boot-up/power-on/power-on reset (e.g. when the power-on reset
signal POR_N_HV carries the low logic level "0", the first enable
signal EN_HV carries the low logic level "0"), the standby mode
(e.g. when the isolation signal ISO_N_HV carries the low logic
level "0", the first enable signal EN_HV carries the low logic
level "0"), the battery voltage (VBAT) mode (e.g. when the power
voltage VCC1 is turned off or is not ready yet, the resistor R1
pulls down the first enable signal EN_HV to the ground voltage GND,
as if it carries the low logic level "0"), etc., the voltage
divider circuit 100 can safely set its output to zero without
occurrence of any significant leakage current.
[0035] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the
above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes
and bounds of the appended claims.
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