A dual mode charge pump with adaptive output used in a class G audio power amplifier

A dual mode charge pump to produce an adaptive power supply for a class G audio power amplifier is presented. According to the amplitude of the input signals, the charge pump has two level output voltage rails available to save power. It operates both in current mode at high output load and in pulse frequency modulation (PFM) at light load to reduce the power dissipation. Also, dynamic adjustment of the power stage transistor size based on load current at the PFM mode is introduced to reduce the output voltage ripple and prevent the switching frequency from audio range. The prototype is implemented in 0.18 μm 3.3 V CMOS technology. Experimental results show that the maximum power efficiency of the charge pump is 79.5% @ 0.5x mode and 83.6% @ 1x mode. The output voltage ripple is less than 15 mV while providing 120 mA of the load current at PFM control and less than 18 mV while providing 300 mA of the load current at current mode control. An analytical model for ripple voltage and efficiency calculation of the proposed PFM control demonstrates reasonable agreement with measured results.