DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings received on 02/10/25 are acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3-8 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jong et al. (US 11,979,081 B2).
Jong et al. disclose a current sensing techniques for power converter circuits in Figures 1-12.
Regarding claim 1. A multiphase power converter (Figure 7) comprising: a plurality of phases (TLVR 702) wherein each phase comprises a pair of power switches (SW1-SWN) coupled to a transformer (704A-704N); a coupling inductor (LM) coupled to a transformer of a chosen phase among the plurality of phases; and a sensing circuit (305A) adapted to generate a first parameter related to a current through the coupling inductor (see col. 11, line 24 to col. 13, line 10).
Regarding claim 3. The multiphase power converter as claimed in claim 1, wherein: each transformer is formed of a primary winding (704A-704N) and a secondary winding (706A-706N); the primary windings are coupled to an output port, and wherein the secondary windings are coupled to each other in series; and the coupling inductor is coupled to the secondary winding of the chosen phase.
Regarding claim 4. The multiphase power converter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing circuit (305A) comprises a DC resistance circuit (R1-RN) for providing the first parameter, wherein the DC resistance circuit comprises a resistor and a first capacitor (C1), and wherein the first parameter is a voltage across the first capacitor.
Regarding claim 5. The multiphase power converter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing circuit (305A) comprises a shunt circuit for providing the first parameter.
Regarding claim 6. The multiphase power converter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing circuit (305A) comprises a hall-effect circuit for providing the first parameter.
Regarding claim 7. The multiphase power converter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing circuit (305A) comprises for each phase a resistance coupled between a switching node of the phase and a common node common to all phases.
Regarding claim 8. The multiphase power converter as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a second capacitor (C2) coupled between the common node and the output port.
Regarding claim 14. The multiphase power converter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chosen phase is a first phase or a last phase among the plurality of phases (702).
Regarding claim 15. A method of operating a multiphase power converter (Figure 7) in which each phase (702) comprises a pair of power switches (SW1-SWN) coupled to a transformer (704), the method comprising: providing a coupling inductor (708) coupled to a transformer (704) of a chosen phase among the plurality of phases; and generating with a sensing circuit (305A) a first parameter related to a current through the coupling inductor (see col. 11, line 24 to col. 13, line 10).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 9-13 and 16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 2 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a multiphase power converter including the limitation “wherein the sensing circuit is adapted to generate a second parameter related to an approximate value of a total current provided by the plurality of phases, and a third parameter based on the first parameter and the second parameter; wherein the third parameter is related to the total current” in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Dependent claim 13 is allowable by virtue of their dependency.
Claim 9 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a multiphase power converter including the limitation “wherein the sensing circuit comprises a first transconductance amplifier configured to receive the first parameter, a second transconductance coupled to the common node, and a summation resistance coupled to both outputs of the first and second transconductance amplifiers; and wherein the third parameter is a voltage across the summation resistance“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Claim 10 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest including the limitation “wherein the sensing circuit comprises a first electronic amplifier coupled to a first filter, and a second electronic amplifier coupled to a second filter“ in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Dependent claims 11-12 are allowable by virtue of their dependency.
Claim 16 is allowed because the prior art of record fails to disclose or suggest a multiphase power converter including the limitation “generating with the sensing circuit a second parameter related to an approximate value of a total current provided by the plurality of phases of the multiphase power converter; generating with the sensing circuit a third parameter based on the first parameter and the second parameter; and estimating the total current using the third parameter.” in addition to other limitations recited therein.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wang et al. (US 2026/0155749 A1) disclose a compensating coupling transformer for trans-inductor voltage regulators.
Ikriannikov et al. (US 12,556,098 B2) disclose a switching power converter including transformers and injection stages and associated methods.
Guthrie et al. (US 2025/0373162 A1) disclose a linear inductor current modeling of coupled inductors.
Niu et al. (US 2025/0239936 A1) disclose a technique for sensing current in multiphase trans-inductor voltage regulators.
Ikriannikov et al. (US 2024/0396433 A1) disclose a switching power converters configured to inject current into an output mode.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADOLF D BERHANE whose telephone number is (571)272-2077. The examiner can normally be reached 7 AM - 10 PM.
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/ADOLF D BERHANE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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