Analysis on the Method of Enhanced Transient State of DLDO

Abstract

As an important unit of power management system, traditional analog low-dropout regulator (ALDO) is widely used in System-on-Chip (SoC) design to provide stable and pure power for each sub-circuit block. However, in ultra-low-power design applications, low quiescent current greatly affects the loop gain of ALDO. Digital low-dropout regulator (DLDO) has good low-voltage working ability, process scalability and diversified control schemes, which is more suitable for low-power SoC design. However, a large number of digital circuits with fast switching devices will produce large load current changes, so DLDO needs fast transient response speed to adjust load changes. In recent years, DLDO can be divided into synchronous DLDO and asynchronous DLDO according to different control methods. Among them, the design structure of synchronous DLDO is relatively simple. It depends on an independent global clock, and there is a tradeoff between speed, accuracy and power consumption. When the clock frequency increases, the system needs fast transient response, but the power consumption will increase proportionally, and the current efficiency and loop stability will decrease. Using large output capacitor to deal with load transient is not conducive to improve chip integration. Although asynchronous DLDO can improve the response speed based on the advantages of asynchronous control scheme, the stability of DLDO will face greater risks. Therefore, this paper will introduce several transient response enhancement technologies that do not sacrifice system power consumption, accuracy or stability. It includes adaptive frequency technology and fast response algorithm to improve the transient response speed of synchronous DLDO, event-driven solution and coarse and fine adjustment technology to improve the transient response speed of asynchronous DLDO. On this basis, a typical DLDO structure with excellent performance in the recent 10 years is given.