An automatic load-adaptive switching frequency selection technique for improving the light-load efficiency of a buck converter

A load-adaptive automatic switching frequency selection scheme is proposed to improve the power efficiency of a switching buck converter at light load condition. The buck converter operates in the continuous-conduction mode for heavy loading and the switching frequency is fixed at its maximum value. For light loading, the buck converter operates in the discontinuous-conduction mode and its switching frequency is automatically selected among a pre-defined set of frequencies according to the amount of the load current. The load current can be sensed indirectly by monitoring the on-time of power transistor because it is a function of the load current. With the proposed load-adaptive automatic switching frequency selection circuit, the power efficiency of a buck converter implemented in a 0.35-μm 2P4M BCDMOS technology is improved by 24.0-% when the load current load is 10-mA.