A power supply comprises at least one power switch adapted to convey power between
input and output terminals of the power supply, and a digital controller adapted
to control operation of the at least one power switch responsive to an output measurement
of the power supply. The digital controller comprises an analog-to-digital converter
providing a digital error signal representing a voltage difference between the
output measurement and a reference value, a digital filter providing a digital
control output based on a sum of previous error signals and previous control outputs,
an error controller adapted to modify operation of the digital filter upon an error
condition, and a digital pulse width modulator providing a control signal to the
power switch having a pulse width corresponding to the digital control output.
The analog-to-digital converter further comprises a windowed flash analog-to-digital
converter having a transfer function defining a relationship between the voltage
difference and corresponding digital values. The transfer function provides a substantially
linear region at a center of a corresponding error window, including a first step
size in the center of the error window and at least one other step size in a peripheral
region of the error window that is larger than the first step size. The first step
size and the other step sizes may each reflect a linear relationship between the
voltage difference and the corresponding digital values. Alternatively, the first
step size reflects a linear relationship between the voltage difference and the
corresponding digital values, and the other step sizes each reflect a non-linear
relationship between the voltage difference and the corresponding digital values.