CONTROL OF SECONDARY SWITCHES IN A POWER CONVERTER
Granted: February 6, 2020
Application Number:
20200044574
A secondary controller including a control circuit coupled to a secondary switch of a power converter. The control circuit is coupled to receive a secondary switch voltage signal representative of the secondary switch, and turns ON the secondary in response in response to how many times the secondary switch voltage signal crosses below a turn on threshold to a limit set in a last half period. The control circuit turns OFF the secondary switch when the secondary switch voltage signal…
PROTECTING SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCHES IN SWITCHED MODE POWER CONVERTERS
Granted: January 16, 2020
Application Number:
20200021284
Driver circuitry for driving a power semiconductor switch having a control input and main terminals is described. The driver circuitry includes control terminal driver circuitry coupled to the control input and configured to provide a drive signal, a sense terminal coupled to the main terminal, a current mirror coupled to the sense terminal to mirror a current input into the sense terminal during turn-off, a first current comparator configured to compare a current signal received from…
CLAMP FOR A HYBRID SWITCH
Granted: December 26, 2019
Application Number:
20190393874
A switch having a drain, a source, and a control. The switch comprising a depletion-mode transistor including a first, a second, and a control terminal and an enhancement-mode transistor including a first, a second, and a control terminal. The first terminal of the depletion-mode transistor is the drain of the switch and the control of the depletion-mode transistor is coupled to the source of the switch. The control of the enhancement-mode transistor is coupled to the control of the…
CASCODE SWITCHES INCLUDING NORMALLY-OFF AND NORMALLY-ON DEVICES AND CIRCUITS COMPRISING THE SWITCHES
Granted: December 26, 2019
Application Number:
20190393871
A cascode switch comprising a normally-on semiconductor device comprising a gate, a source and a drain, and a normally-off semiconductor device comprising a gate, a source and a drain. The drain of the normally-off semiconductor device coupled to the normally-on semiconductor device, the source of the normally-on semiconductor device coupled to the drain of the normally-off semiconductor device and the gate of the normally-on semiconductor device coupled to the source of the normally-off…
Vertical Transistor Device Structure with Cylindrical-Shaped Field Plates
Granted: December 26, 2019
Application Number:
20190393314
A vertical power transistor device includes a semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type, with a plurality of dielectric regions disposed in the semiconductor layer. The dielectric regions extend in a vertical direction from a top surface of the semiconductor layer downward. Each dielectric region has a rounded-square cross-section in a horizontal plane perpendicular to the vertical direction. Adjacent ones of the dielectric regions are laterally separated by a narrow region of the…
POWER CONVERTER WITH CURRENT MATCHING
Granted: December 19, 2019
Application Number:
20190387588
A current matching circuit includes a plurality of LED driver circuits. A current to voltage converter circuit is coupled to the plurality of LED driver circuits to generate a plurality of voltage signals. Each one of the plurality of voltage signals is representative of a respective output current through a corresponding one of the plurality of LED driver circuits. A comparison circuit is coupled to the current to voltage converter circuit to compare the plurality of voltage signals. An…
Controlled Power Circuit With Adjusted Voltage Feedback to Regulate the Output Power
Granted: December 12, 2019
Application Number:
20190379294
A controller to regulate an output voltage of a power converter comprising a feedback reference circuit to generate a drive signal to control a power switch in response to the feedback signal and an output power control circuit configured to generate an adjust signal in response to an output current of the power converter and a desired value of an output power of the power converter, the adjust signal adjusts the feedback signal such that the controller regulates the output voltage to…
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEQUENCING OUTPUTS IN A MULTI-OUTPUT POWER CONVERTER SYSTEM
Granted: December 5, 2019
Application Number:
20190372470
Apparatus and methods for sequencing outputs in a multi-output power converter system are disclosed herein. During start-up multiple CC/CV outputs may be sequenced so that energy is first provided to a highest voltage secondary output and subsequently provided to a lowest voltage secondary output. Additionally, control may be exerted so as to concurrently and monotonically increase voltages during at least part of the start-up transient; and concurrent control may be further implemented…
POWER CONVERTER FAULT DETECTION BY COUNTING REQUEST PULSES
Granted: November 21, 2019
Application Number:
20190356216
A controller for a multiple output power converter, including an error amplifier configured to generate an error signal based on a difference between an output signal of a multiple output power converter and a reference signal. A switch request circuit is configured to generate a request signal in response to the error signal. The switch request circuit is further configured to control a switching of a power switch of the multiple output power converter to transfer energy from an input…
Power Converter Controller With Stability Compensation
Granted: November 14, 2019
Application Number:
20190348900
A switched mode power converter has an energy transfer element that delivers an output signal to a load. A power switching device coupled to the primary side of the energy transfer element regulates a transfer of energy to the load. A secondary controller is coupled to receive a feedback signal and output a pulsed signal in response thereto. A primary controller is coupled to receive the pulsed signal and output a drive signal in response thereto, the drive signal being coupled to…
COMMUNICATING ACROSS GALVANIC ISOLATION
Granted: November 7, 2019
Application Number:
20190342122
A power conversion system comprising a system controller configured to generate an input signal in response to a system input and a switch controller coupled to the system controller, the switch controller configured to control a power switch. The switch controller comprises a driver interface configured to receive the input signal that indicates whether the power switch should be ON or OFF, the driver interface further configured to transmit one or more current pulses across a galvanic…
CONTROLLER FOR MULTI-OUTPUT SINGLE MAGNETIC COMPONENT CONVERTER WITH INDEPENDENT REGULATION OF CONSTANT CURRENT AND CONSTANT VOLTAGE OUTPUTS
Granted: October 24, 2019
Application Number:
20190326823
A power converter includes a primary winding and multiple output windings to provide multiple independently controlled and regulated outputs with a common return line. The outputs are coupled to independently regulate constant current, constant voltage, or both constant current and constant voltage outputs. A secondary control block is coupled to control a synchronous rectifier switch coupled to the common return line to synchronize switching with a primary side power switch to provide…
MAGNETICALLY COUPLED GALVANICALLY ISOLATED COMMUNICATION USING LEAD FRAME
Granted: September 19, 2019
Application Number:
20190288604
An integrated circuit package includes a lead frame and an encapsulation that substantially encloses the lead frame. The lead frame further includes a first conductor comprising a first conductive loop and a second conductor galvanically isolated from the first conductor, proximate to and magnetically coupled to the first conductive loop to provide a communication link between the first and second conductor. The second conductor includes a first conductive portion, a second conductive…
TECHNIQUES FOR CONTROLLING A POWER CONVERTER USING MULTIPLE CONTROLLERS
Granted: May 23, 2019
Application Number:
20190157977
A controller configured for use with a power converter and a power switch comprising a primary controller coupled to the power converter and configured to provide a switch drive signal to control switching of the power switch to transfer energy from a primary side to a secondary side of the power converter. A primary switching pattern circuit is configured to provide a primary switching pattern to operate the primary controller in a first mode of operation and a primary switch control…
CONTROLLER WITH FREQUENCY TO ON-TIME CONVERTER
Granted: May 23, 2019
Application Number:
20190157966
A controller for use in a power converter includes a secondary controller coupled to receive a feedback signal representative of an output of the power converter to generate d a request signal. A primary controller is coupled to receive the request signal to generate a primary drive signal. The primary drive signal is coupled to control switching of a power switch to control a transfer of energy from the input to the output of the power converter. A frequency to on-time converter…
CLAMP FOR A HYBRID SWITCH
Granted: April 25, 2019
Application Number:
20190123738
A switch having a drain terminal, a source terminal and a control terminal. The switch comprises a normally-on device including a first terminal, a second terminal, and a control terminal, a normally-off device including a first terminal, a second terminal, and a control terminal, and a clamp circuit. The first terminal of the normally-on device is the drain terminal of the switch and the control terminal of the normally-on device is coupled to the source terminal of the switch. The…
GATE STACK FOR HETEROSTRUCTURE DEVICE
Granted: April 18, 2019
Application Number:
20190115443
A heterostructure semiconductor device includes a first active layer and a second active layer disposed on the first active layer. A two-dimensional electron gas layer is formed between the first and second active layers. A sandwich gate dielectric layer structure is disposed on the second active layer. A passivation layer is disposed over the sandwich gate dielectric layer structure. A gate extends through the passivation layer to the sandwich gate dielectric layer structure. First and…
BIASING CIRCUIT FOR SWITCH
Granted: December 6, 2018
Application Number:
20180351542
A driver circuit for use in a controller includes a signal generator coupled to generate a first control signal and a second control signal in response to a drive signal that is coupled to control switching of a secondary switch that is to be coupled to the driver circuit and referenced to a reference voltage that is greater than a ground reference voltage. A second switch is coupled to be controlled by the second control signal such that the reference voltage is substantially applied to…
DRIVER CIRCUIT FOR SWITCH
Granted: December 6, 2018
Application Number:
20180351468
A driver circuit for use in a controller includes a signal generator coupled to generate a first control signal, a second control, and a third control signal in response to a drive signal that is coupled to control switching of a selection switch that is coupled to the driver circuit and referenced to an output voltage that is greater than a ground reference voltage. A first switch is coupled to selectively couple a first voltage to a first terminal of the controller in response to the…
Controlled Power Circuit With Adjusted Voltage Feedback to Regulate the Output Power
Granted: October 11, 2018
Application Number:
20180294737
A controller for use in a power converter comprising a feedback reference circuit coupled to receive a feedback signal representative of an output voltage of the power converter. A feedback reference circuit generates a drive signal in response to the feedback signal and the drive signal is used to control switching of a power switch of the power converter to regulate the output voltage. The controller further comprises an output power control circuit coupled to receive a current sense…
