Interleaving Energy-Conservation Mode (IECM) Control in Single-Inductor Dual-Output (SIDO) Step-Down Converters With 91% Peak Efficiency

The proposed single-inductor dual-output (SIDO) converter with interleaving energy-conservation mode (IECM) control is designed using 65 nm technology to power the ultra-wide band (UWB) system. The energy-conservation mode (ECM) control generates four different energy delivery paths for dual buck outputs with only one inductor. In addition, the superposition technique is used to achieve a minimized inductor current level. The average inductor current is equal to the summation of two output loads. Moreover, the IECM control activates the interleaving operation through the current interleaving mechanism to provide large driving capability as well as to reduce the output voltage ripple. As a result, 91% peak efficiency is derived and the output voltage ripple appears notably minimized by 50% using current interleaving at heavy load. The test chip occupies 1.44 mm² in 65 nm CMOS and integrates with a three-dimensional (3-D) architecture for inductor integration.