DC–DC converter for fuel-cells and portable devices in digital CMOS technology

The manuscript discusses the design of an integrated DC–DC power converter in a digital 0.18 μm CMOS technology for fuel cells and portable applications. By means of a combined boost and switched-capacitor architecture and design optimization a suitable efficiency has been achieved without resorting to special process options and with a limited number of passive external components. The achieved results enable the implementation of a power-converter system for fuel-cell featuring low-cost and small size, as required by the market of portable devices.