1. Technical Field
Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to switched-capacitor Direct Current-to-Direct Current (DC-to-DC) converters.
2. Related Art
Switched power converters used in power supplies may be typically categorized as either switched-inductor converters (SICs) or switched-capacitor converters (SCCs). The SICs may store energy in their inductors while the SICs convert a source of direct current (DC) from one voltage level into another voltage level, and the SCCs may store energy in their capacitors while the SCCs convert a source of direct current (DC) from one voltage level into another voltage level. The SICs may exhibit a wide operating range and a high efficiency. Thus, the SICs have been widely used in a high power device. However, there may be some limitations in employing the SICs in compact systems since inductors of the SICs occupy a relatively large area. Nevertheless, the SCCs may be suitable for low power systems having a compact size since capacitors of the SCCs occupy a relatively small area as compared with the inductors of the SICs. Recently, the SCCs have been widely used in mobile systems due to their compact size and low electromagnetic interference. However, it may be difficult to integrate a capacitor having a high capacitance value and a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuit constituting the SCC in a single chip. Thus, a capacitor having a high capacitance value has been positioned in an outside region of a semiconductor chip.