High frequency AC power converter for low voltage circuits

Abstract

This thesis presents a novel AC power delivery architecture that is suitable for VHF frequency (50-100MHz) polyphase AC/DC power conversion in low voltage integrated circuits. A complete AC power delivery architecture was evaluated demonstrating the benefits of delivering power across the interconnect at high voltage and lower current with on- or over-die transformation to low voltage and high current. Two approaches to polyphase matching networks in the transformation stage are compared: a 3-phase system with separate single-phase matching networks and individual full bridge rectifiers, and a 3-phase delta-to-wye matching network and a 3-phase rectifier bridge. In addition, a novel switch-capacitor rectifier capable of 3V, 1W output, was evaluated as an alternative circuit to the diode rectifiers. A 50MHz prototype of each version of the system was designed and built for a 12:1 conversion ratio with 24Vpp line-to-line AC input, 2V DC output and 0.7W output power. The measured overall system efficiency is about 63 % for the 3-phase delta system. Although the application is intended for an integrated CMOS implementation, this thesis primarily focuses on discrete PCB level realizations of the proposed architectures to validate the concept and provide insights for future designs.