A current-sharing multiphase sliding-mode switching power supply (24) and
method of operation are presented. A bipolar power source (22) is coupled
to a switch (30) for each phase (28), each switch (30) is in turn coupled
to an inductance (32), and a capacitance (36) is coupled to the
inductances (32) and across a load (26). A sliding-surface generator (78)
generates a sliding surface (.sigma.). A current-balance control (80)
computes a reference current as a summary statistic (I.sub.X) of
inductive currents (I.sub.L) through the inductances (32), calculates an
error current (I.sub.E) for each phase (28) as a difference between the
summary statistic (I.sub.X) and the inductive current (I.sub.L), and
adjusts the sliding surface (.sigma.) for each phase (28) so that all
inductive currents (I.sub.L) are substantially equal to the summary
statistic (I.sub.X). A switching circuit (138) switches the switches (30)
in response to the sliding surface (.sigma.).