A 233-MHz 80%-87% efficient four-phase DC-DC converter utilizing air-core inductors on package |
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Authors: | Hazucha P Schrom G Jaehong Hahn Bloechel BA Hack P Dermer GE Narendra S Gardner D Karnik T De V Borkar S |
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Affiliation: | Intel Labs., Intel Corp., Hillsboro, OR, USA; |
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Abstract: | We demonstrate an integrated buck dc-dc converter for multi-V/sub CC/ microprocessors. At nominal conditions, the converter produces a 0.9-V output from a 1.2-V input. The circuit was implemented in a 90-nm CMOS technology. By operating at high switching frequency of 100 to 317 MHz with four-phase topology and fast hysteretic control, we reduced inductor and capacitor sizes by three orders of magnitude compared to previously published dc-dc converters. This eliminated the need for the inductor magnetic core and enabled integration of the output decoupling capacitor on-chip. The converter achieves 80%-87% efficiency and 10% peak-to-peak output noise for a 0.3-A output current and 2.5-nF decoupling capacitance. A forward body bias of 500 mV applied to PMOS transistors in the bridge improves efficiency by 0.5%-1%. |
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