An SC-first Hybrid SCVR with 4xC_F Continuously Scalable-Conversion Ratio SC Achieving 92.5% Peak Efficiency

Switched-capacitor (SC) voltage regulators (VRs) are gaining attention for power delivery in data center, due to their higher energy density compared to inductive regulators. To minimize power loss in the power delivery network (PDN), SCVRs should be placed close to the load circuits. Meanwhile, SCVRs should operate with an increased input voltage VIN (such as 3V), and precisely regulate its output voltage <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$V_{0}$</tex> (down to 1V). Continuously Scalable-Conversion Ratio SC converter (CSC) [1]–[4] is a good candidate for SCVR because of its high power conversion efficiency (PCE) across a wide voltage conversion ratio (VCR) range. Conventional CSCs require a large number of flying capacitors C<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">FS</inf> (denoted as <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$n$</tex>, which is x66 in [1], x33 in [4]) to split the CF voltage swing (V<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">CF</inf>, from VIN to ground in conventional designs) into small steps for high efficiency. [2], [3] implemented these C<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">FS</inf> with high-density MIM capacitors, integrated with the processor and SCVR power switches (Fig. 1).