Coupled Inductors for Fast-Response High-Density Power Delivery: Discrete and Integrated

Abstract

Multiphase interleaved buck converters benefit from coupling inductors between phases. The coupling fundamentally alters the trade-offs between ripple current, loss, energy storage, and transient response, enabling improvements in one or more of these aspects without compromises in the others. Coupled-inductor buck converters implemented with discrete or integrated switches, controls, and inductors have become a standard technique for power delivery applications. This paper reviews developments in this technology across many applications and shows how a simplified analysis approach can offer added design insight for both magnetics designers and circuit designers.

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