The application framework of the presented research work is stablished in the area
of the low-power portable stand-alone devices. Considering as a paradigm application
the implementation of future portable terminals for telecommunications, two
opposed trends coexist that determine the need for an optimized energy management.
An important increase in power consumption is expected in future battery
operated terminals, specially for the third and fourth generation systems (3G, 4G),
due to the increasing demand in their functionalities, extended towards audiovisual
communication and a much higher multimedia data flow (the last issue could also
be referred to the personal audio players). In addition to this, other low-power standalone
devices, such as the telemetric sensing devices and wireless sensor networks
motes, should be the application target of the herein presented work. Microsystems
and nanoelectronic circuits power supply fit this category as well.
On the other hand, the energy density increase of power sources (nowadays
based in lithium-ion batteries) is expected to evolve much slower than the mentioned
power demands of future systems. Furthermore, an improvement in terms of
ergonomics and compactness is ever demanded in this kind of devices, as well as a
longer operating life (which strongly constraints the use and selection of the whole
powering system, i.e. from the battery to the power management circuitry).
This book describes the structured design and optimization of efficient, energy processing integrated circuits. The approach is multidisciplinary, covering the monolithic integration of IC design techniques, power electronics and control theory. In particular, this book enables readers to conceive, synthesize, design and implement integrated circuits with high-density high-efficiency on-chip switching power regulators. Topics covered encompass the structured design of the on-chip power supply, efficiency optimization, IC-compatible power inductors and capacitors, power MOSFET switches and efficient switch drivers in standard CMOS technologies.