CONTROLLER WITH PUNCTUATED SWITCHING CONTROL CIRCUIT
Granted: March 13, 2014
Application Number:
20140071725
A power supply controller includes a switching signal generator, a zero crossing detection (ZCD) circuit, first and second logic gates, and an interval generator. The switching signal generator generates a switching signal and the ZCD circuit generates a ZCD signal that pulses each zero-crossing of an ac input voltage. The first logic gate generates a first output when the ZCD signal pulses while the output of the power supply is below a threshold reference. The second logic gate…
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SENSING OF ISOLATED OUTPUT
Granted: March 6, 2014
Application Number:
20140063867
A switched-mode power supply includes an energy transfer element coupled between a primary side and a secondary side. A first main terminal of a switch is coupled to the energy transfer element and a second main terminal of the switch is coupled to an input of the primary side. A driver circuit is coupled to drive the switch to be open at a first one of a plurality of levels and closed at a second one of the plurality of levels. The driver circuit is coupled to drive the switch to be…
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A CONTROL CIRCUIT RESPONSIVE TO AN IMPEDANCE COUPLED TO A CONTROL CIRCUIT TERMINAL
Granted: March 6, 2014
Application Number:
20140063866
A controller includes a current sense circuit and a voltage regulation circuit. The current sense circuit generates a first signal that indicates whether a current through a sense terminal exceeds a first threshold current level, which indicates a fault condition of a power converter. The voltage regulation circuit regulates the sense terminal to a first voltage level when the current through the terminal is less than the first threshold current level and regulates the sense terminal to…
ENERGY TRANSFER ASSEMBLY WITH TUNED LEAKAGE INDUCTANCE AND COMMON MODE NOISE COMPENSATION
Granted: March 6, 2014
Application Number:
20140063863
An energy transfer assembly includes first and second windings wound around a bobbin. The first winding has a first number of layers proximate to a first end and a second number of layers proximate to a second end of the bobbin. The second winding has a third number of layers proximate to the first end and a fourth number of layers proximate to the second end. At least a portion of one of the first and second windings overlaps at least a portion of the other one of the first and second…
VARYING SWITCHING FREQUENCY AND PERIOD OF A POWER SUPPLY CONTROLLER
Granted: March 6, 2014
Application Number:
20140063862
A controller includes a PWM circuit and a timing circuit. The PWM circuit controls a switch in response to a clock signal. A switching period of the clock signal is based on a charging and discharging time of a capacitor included in the timing circuit. Both first and second current sinks discharge the capacitor while the timing circuit is in a normal discharging mode that is when an on time of the switch is less than a threshold time. The second current sink is prevented from discharging…
DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG CONVERTER TO PRODUCE PAIRED CONTROL SIGNALS IN A POWER SUPPLY CONTROLLER
Granted: February 27, 2014
Application Number:
20140055293
An controller for use in a power supply includes a variable oscillator and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The variable oscillator generates a switching signal to control a first switch of the power supply to regulate an output current of the power supply. The variable oscillator sets a duration of an on-time of the switching signal to be inversely proportional to a magnitude of a first analog signal. The variable oscillator also sets a switching period of the switching signal to be…
DIMMING CONTROL FOR A SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY
Granted: February 20, 2014
Application Number:
20140049241
An example controller includes a measurement block and a drive block. The measurement block determines an amount of time that a dimmer circuit, that is coupled to an input of a power supply, disconnects an ac input voltage. The drive block generates a drive signal to control switching of a switch included in the power supply. The drive block operates a closed loop dimming control when the amount of time is less than or equal to a threshold and operates an open loop dimming control when…
FORMING A TAPERED OXIDE FROM A THICK OXIDE LAYER
Granted: February 13, 2014
Application Number:
20140045318
Processes for forming a tapered field plate dielectric in a semiconductor substrate are provided. The process may be used to form a variety of types of devices, such as Schottky diodes, HVFETs, JFET, IGBT, bipolar transistors, and the like. The process may include etching a trench in a semiconductor wafer, depositing an insulating layer on the semiconductor wafer to form a gap within the trench, depositing a masking layer on the insulating layer, and alternatingly etching the masking…
Segmented Pillar Layout for a High-Voltage Vertical Transistor
Granted: February 13, 2014
Application Number:
20140042533
In one embodiment, a transistor fabricated on a semiconductor die includes a first section of transistor segments disposed in a first area of the semiconductor die, and a second section of transistor segments disposed in a second area of the semiconductor die adjacent the first area. Each of the transistor segments in the first and second sections includes a pillar of a semiconductor material that extends in a vertical direction. First and second dielectric regions are disposed on…
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ON/OFF CONTROL OF A POWER CONVERTER
Granted: February 6, 2014
Application Number:
20140036551
A power converter includes an energy transfer element coupled between a power converter input and a power converter output. A power switch is coupled to the energy transfer element and the power converter input. A feedback sampling circuit is coupled to receive a feedback signal representative of the power converter output to generate at least one feedback signal sample during each switching cycle. A switch conduction scheduling circuit is coupled to set a number of enabled cycles and a…
LOW-COST TRANSFORMER ASSEMBLY
Granted: February 6, 2014
Application Number:
20140033527
Power is supplied on a circuit board assembly by attaching a drum core inductor to a circuit board. The drum core inductor has a first winding wound around the drum core inductor. The first winding has first and second ends coupled to the drum core inductor. A bobbin is attached to the circuit board. The bobbin has a second winding wound around the bobbin. The second winding has first and second ends coupled to the bobbin. The drum core inductor and the bobbin are attached to the circuit…
DEPOSIT/ETCH FOR TAPERED OXIDE
Granted: January 30, 2014
Application Number:
20140030868
A process for fabricating a tapered field plate dielectric for high-voltage semiconductor devices is disclosed. The process may include depositing a thin layer of oxide, depositing a polysilicon hard mask, depositing a resist layer and etching a trench area, performing deep silicon trench etch, and stripping the resist layer. The process may further include repeated steps of depositing a layer of oxide and anisotropic etching of the oxide to form a tapered wall within the trench. The…
METHOD AND APPARATUS TO CONTROL A POWER CONVERTER HAVING A LOW LOOP BANDWIDTH
Granted: January 16, 2014
Application Number:
20140016377
A controller for use in a power converter includes a comparator coupled to receive a signal representative of an output of the power converter. A counter is coupled to an output of the comparator to sample the output of the comparator a plurality of times within a period. A state machine is coupled to an output of the counter to control switching of the power converter according to one of a plurality of operating condition states in response to the output of the counter. The state…
SINGLE-STAGE POWER SUPPLY WITH POWER FACTOR CORRECTION AND CONSTANT CURRENT OUTPUT
Granted: January 9, 2014
Application Number:
20140009086
An example power supply includes an energy transfer element, a switch, and a controller. The switch is coupled to the energy transfer element to control a transfer of energy from an input to a galvanically isolated output of the power supply. The controller includes a delayed ramp generator, an integrator, an arithmetic operator, and a drive signal generator. The integrator generates a first signal responsive to integrating an input current of the power supply. The arithmetic operator…
STATIC DISCHARGE SYSTEM
Granted: January 2, 2014
Application Number:
20140001515
A semiconductor circuit includes a three-terminal high voltage semiconductor device, a charge distribution structure and a static discharge system. The charge distribution structure has a plurality of conductors with a floating potential. The charge distribution structure is capacitively coupled to a first terminal of the semiconductor device. The static discharge system removes charge that accumulates on at least a subset of the conductors. The static discharge system removes the charge…
SWITCHING DEVICE WITH CHARGE DISTRIBUTION STRUCTURE
Granted: January 2, 2014
Application Number:
20140001479
A semiconductor device includes a substrate and a first active layer disposed over the substrate. The semiconductor device also includes a second active layer disposed on the first active layer such that a lateral conductive channel arises between the first active layer and the second active layer. a source, gate and drain contact are disposed over the second active layer. A conductive charge distribution structure is disposed over the second active layer between the gate and drain…
FLICKER PREVENTION WITH SWITCHED BULK CAPACITOR
Granted: December 26, 2013
Application Number:
20130342129
This relates to an apparatus and method for selectively adding a capacitance to an input of a power converter of a power conversion system. A power conversion system may selectively introduce additional input capacitance in response to an input voltage. In one example, a power conversion system operates in a first mode (dimming mode) and engages a selective capacitor circuit to introduce additional capacitance to an input of a power converter. In a second mode (non-dimming mode), the…
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING ZERO-CROSSING OF AN AC INPUT VOLTAGE TO A POWER SUPPLY
Granted: December 19, 2013
Application Number:
20130336019
An example controller for a power supply includes a first circuit and a drive signal generator. The first circuit receives a first signal representative of a switch current flowing through a switch of the power supply and then generates a second signal in response the switch current not reaching a current threshold within an amount of time. The second signal indicates when a dimming circuit at an input of the power supply is utilized. The drive signal generator generates a drive signal…
SAMPLE AND HOLD BUFFER
Granted: December 19, 2013
Application Number:
20130336022
This relates to sampling a feedback signal representative of an output of a power converter. The sampling is performed using a buffer sampling circuit having three sample and hold stages coupled in series to sense and store the feedback signal. The first stage is coupled to sample and hold the feedback signal on a capacitor. If the output diode is conducting, the sampled signal is transferred to the second stage. If the output diode is conducting, the first stage will sample the feedback…
METHOD AND APPARATUS TO REDUCE AUDIO FREQUENCIES IN A SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY
Granted: December 19, 2013
Application Number:
20130336020
An example power supply regulator includes an energy transfer element, a switch, and a controller. The controller includes a switch signal generator, a modulation circuit, and a multi-cycle modulator circuit. The modulation circuit modulates the period of a modulation switching signal when an equivalent switching frequency is greater than a reference frequency and fixes the switching period when the equivalent switching frequency is less than the reference frequency. The multi-cycle…
