The Patents In Question

Aug. 2, 2007

Power-One's patents cover digital power management and control incorporated in its Z-One system architecture, which controls distributed point-of-load (POL) regulators from a single digital power manager. One of the patents (6,949,916, issued Se

Sam Davis 2

One of the patents (6,949,916, issued September 27, 2005) is "System and method for controlling a point-of-load regulator." It describes the use of serial bus control (either passively or actively) for a point-of-load (POL) regulator. Here, the controller writes initial configuration data to at least one POL regulator via the serial bus and employs a register for maintaining POL information.

Another patent is 6,936,999, issued August 30, 2005: "System and method for controlling output timing of power converters." This concept employs a controller to transmit output-timing data to at least one POL regulator. Examples of output-timing data include sequencing data and turn-on and turn-off data.

Additional patents are applications that haven't been issued. Filed on November 13, 2002, "System and method for communicating with a voltage regulator" (USPTO 10/293,001) describes a control unit that programs and/or monitors a POL regulator. In one configuration, the POL regulator includes a sensor circuit that generates fault-monitoring data.

A second patent application (10/326,222), filed December 21, 2002, describes a method and system for controlling and monitoring an array of POL regulators. It consists of a power control system with multiple POL regulators controlled by a serial data bus. It employs a system controller that uses a serial data bus to send and receive digital data from POL regulators.

About the Author

Sam Davis 2

Sam Davis was the editor-in-chief of Power Electronics Technology magazine and website that is now part of Electronic Design. He has 18 years experience in electronic engineering design and management, six years in public relations and 25 years as a trade press editor. He holds a BSEE from Case-Western Reserve University, and did graduate work at the same school and UCLA. Sam was the editor for PCIM, the predecessor to Power Electronics Technology, from 1984 to 2004. His engineering experience includes circuit and system design for Litton Systems, Bunker-Ramo, Rocketdyne, and Clevite Corporation. Design tasks included analog circuits, display systems, power supplies, underwater ordnance systems, and test systems. He also served as a program manager for a Litton Systems Navy program.

Sam is the author of Computer Data Displays, a book published by Prentice-Hall in the U.S. and Japan in 1969. He also authored the book Managing Electric Vehicle Power. He is also a recipient of the Jesse Neal Award for trade press editorial excellence, and has one patent for naval ship construction that simplifies electronic system integration.

You can also check out additional articles on his other author page.