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CN-122026718-A - Method and power supply for supplying DC power to a load

CN122026718ACN 122026718 ACN122026718 ACN 122026718ACN-122026718-A

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a power supply for providing direct current to a load. A power supply (100) for feeding direct current (I DC ) to a load (109) includes an input voltage terminal (101) for receiving an input voltage (V AC ), a direct voltage terminal (102) for providing direct current (I DC ) to the load, an input voltage converter (103) configured to convert the input voltage (V AC ) to a direct voltage (V DC ) of the direct voltage terminal, and a capacitor (104) connected to the direct voltage terminal in response to a peak load current demand. In response to a continuous segment of load peak current demand, the power supply includes a supercapacitor (105) and a dc voltage converter (106) between the supercapacitor and the dc voltage terminal configured to convert a voltage between a dc voltage (V DC_S ) of the supercapacitor and a dc voltage (V DC ) of the dc voltage terminal.

Inventors

  • Terro Yelvillein
  • Taaiwei Madiberk

Assignees

  • 斯盖乐顿技术有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20250620
Priority Date
20241111

Claims (18)

  1. 1.A power supply (100, 200) comprising: an input voltage terminal (101, 201), said input voltage terminal (101, 201) for receiving an input voltage (V AC , V DC_in ), A DC voltage terminal (102), the DC voltage terminal (102) for providing DC power (I DC ) to a load of the power supply, An input voltage converter (103, 203), the input voltage converter (103, 203) being between the input voltage terminal and the direct voltage terminal and being configured to convert the input voltage (V AC ,V DC_in ) to a direct voltage (V DC ) of the direct voltage terminal, and A first capacitor (104, 204), the first capacitor (104, 204) being connected between the positive and negative poles of the direct voltage terminal, the first capacitor comprising at least one of an electrolytic capacitor and a foil capacitor, It is characterized in that the method comprises the steps of, The power supply comprises a second capacitor (105) and a direct voltage converter (106), The second capacitor (105) is a supercapacitor, The dc voltage converter (106) is between the second capacitor and the dc voltage terminal and is configured to voltage convert between a dc voltage (V DC_S ) of the second capacitor and the dc voltage (V DC ) of the dc voltage terminal.
  2. 2. The power supply of claim 1, wherein, The power supply comprises a controller (107), the controller (107) being configured to: Controlling the dc voltage converter to charge the second capacitor in response to the dc voltage (I DC ) being below a first predetermined current limit and the dc voltage (V DC_S ) of the second capacitor being below a predetermined upper limit, and In response to the direct current (I DC ) being above a second predetermined current limit and the direct voltage (V DC_S ) of the second capacitor being above a predetermined lower limit, the direct voltage converter is controlled to discharge the second capacitor.
  3. 3. The power supply of claim 1, wherein, The second capacitor (105) comprises one or more carbon capacitor units.
  4. 4. The power supply according to claim 2, wherein, The second capacitor (105) comprises one or more carbon capacitor units.
  5. 5. The power supply of claim 1, wherein, The second capacitor (105) includes one or more electric double layer capacitor cells.
  6. 6. The power supply according to claim 2, wherein, The second capacitor (105) includes one or more electric double layer capacitor cells.
  7. 7. The power supply of claim 3, wherein, The second capacitor (105) includes one or more electric double layer capacitor cells.
  8. 8. The power supply according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The direct current voltage converter (106) is a bi-directional buck-boost converter.
  9. 9. The power supply according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The first capacitor (204) comprises a parallel connection of the electrolytic capacitor (204 a) and the foil capacitor (204 b).
  10. 10. The power supply according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The input voltage converter (103) is an ac voltage-dc voltage converter.
  11. 11. The power supply according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The input voltage converter (203) is a direct current voltage converter.
  12. 12. A method for providing direct current to a load, the method comprising: an input voltage (V AC , V DC_in ) is received (301) at an input voltage terminal (101), Converting (302) the input voltage (V AC , V DC_in ) to a direct voltage (V DC ) of a direct voltage terminal (102) using an input voltage converter (103), the direct voltage terminal (102) providing the direct current (I DC ) to the load, and Responding (303) to the onset of a peak current demand of the load with a first capacitor (104, 204) connected between the positive and negative poles of the direct voltage terminal, the first capacitor comprising at least one of an electrolytic capacitor and a foil capacitor, Characterized in that the method comprises: -responding (304) to successive segments of the peak current demand of the load by supplying energy to the dc voltage terminal from a second capacitor (105) being a super capacitor, with a dc voltage converter (106), the dc voltage converter (106) voltage converting between a dc voltage (V DC_S ) of the second capacitor and the dc voltage (V DC ) of the dc voltage terminal.
  13. 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the method comprises: Controlling the dc voltage converter to charge the second capacitor in response to the dc voltage (I DC ) being below a first predetermined current limit and the dc voltage (V DC_S ) of the second capacitor being below a predetermined upper limit, and In response to the direct current (I DC ) being above a second predetermined current limit and the direct voltage (V DC_S ) of the second capacitor being above a predetermined lower limit, the direct voltage converter is controlled to discharge the second capacitor to provide energy from the second capacitor to the direct voltage terminal.
  14. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein, The second capacitor includes one or more carbon capacitor units.
  15. 15. The method of claim 13, wherein, The second capacitor includes one or more carbon capacitor units.
  16. 16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein, The second capacitor includes one or more electric double layer capacitor cells.
  17. 17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein, The direct current voltage converter (106) is a bi-directional buck-boost converter.
  18. 18. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein, The first capacitor (204) comprises a parallel connection of the electrolytic capacitor (204 a) and the foil capacitor (204 b).

Description

Method and power supply for supplying DC power to a load Technical Field The present invention relates to a power supply for feeding direct current "DC" to a load such as a data processing system (e.g., a graphics processing unit "GPU"). Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for providing direct current to a load, e.g. a data processing system. Background In many applications, the power demand of direct current "DC" loads can vary significantly over time, such that peak power demand can be significantly higher than average power demand. For example, in a data center, the power requirements of a data processing system (e.g., a graphics processing unit "GPU") provided by an alternating voltage-to-direct voltage "AC-to-DC" converter or a direct voltage "DC-to-DC" converter can vary drastically over time, thus meeting high peak power requirements and reacting quickly enough to the variation in power requirements can be a challenge. Failure to respond to peak power demands and response delays to sudden increases in power demands reduce the performance of the data processing system. In addition, a delay in response to a sudden drop in power demand may result in additional power loss and heat generation. Publication US20050184706 describes a hybrid capacitor module for responding to peak power demands of an audio system amplifier. The hybrid capacitor module comprises an electronic foil capacitor with a relatively low equivalent series resistance "ESP" and a relatively short charge/discharge time. Furthermore, the hybrid capacitor module comprises a plurality of supercapacitors, each having a relatively high capacitance and being connected to each other in series and then connected in parallel to the electronic foil capacitors. Each supercapacitor can be, for example, a carbon capacitor cell or an electric double layer capacitor "EDLC". The electronic foil capacitor and the super capacitor, connected in parallel, provide electrical energy to the amplifier to produce the required output power during peak power demands of the amplifier, for example, when the audio system is required to deliver transient bass peaks. An inherent inconvenience associated with a capacitor system connected to the output of a DC voltage source and thus to the input of a DC load is that the DC voltage needs to be changed in order for the capacitor system to release or receive energy, since the energy 1 ⁄ CU 2 stored in the capacitor system is also constant if the DC voltage U of the capacitor system with the capacitance C is constant. This limits the applicability of capacitor systems of the above type to applications where the DC voltage should remain substantially constant. Disclosure of Invention The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of various embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the invention nor delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary presents some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description of the exemplary and non-limiting embodiments. In accordance with the present invention, a new power supply is provided for feeding direct current "DC" to a load, such as a data processing system (e.g., a graphics processing unit "GPU"). The power supply according to the invention comprises: An input voltage terminal for receiving an input voltage, A direct current "DC" voltage terminal for providing DC current to a load of the power supply, An input voltage converter between the input voltage terminal and the DC voltage terminal and configured to convert an input voltage to an input voltage of the DC voltage terminal, A first capacitor connected between the positive and negative poles of the DC voltage terminal, said first capacitor comprising at least one of an electrolytic capacitor and a foil capacitor, A second capacitor as a supercapacitor, and -A direct current voltage "DC-DC" converter between the second capacitor and the DC voltage terminal and configured to perform a voltage conversion between the DC voltage of the second capacitor and the DC voltage of the DC voltage terminal. Since the second capacitor is connected to the DC voltage terminal via the DC-DC converter, the second capacitor can be discharged in response to peak power conditions and charged in low load conditions such that the DC voltage of the DC voltage terminal does not need to be changed. Accordingly, the energy storage capacity of the second capacitor (i.e., supercapacitor) can be effectively utilized. The first capacitor is used to compensate for any delay in DC-DC converter operation and/or discharging of the second capacitor in response to the onset of load peak current demand. The input voltage may be, for example, a single-phase AC voltage, a multi-phase (e.g., three-phase) AC voltage, or a DC voltage. Thus, the input voltage converter may be