Low profile coil-wound bobbin
Granted: January 24, 2012
Patent Number:
8102237
A low profile coil-wound bobbin is disclosed. A low profile coil-wound bobbin includes a spool and a terminal. The spool is configured to have a coil-wire arrangement wound around the spool. The terminals are to be coupled to the coil-wire arrangement and a first side of a circuit board. The terminal is configured to mechanically and/or electrically couple the low profile coil-wound bobbin to the first side of the circuit board such that the low profile bobbin extends through the circuit…
Phase angle measurement of a dimming circuit for a switching power supply
Granted: January 24, 2012
Patent Number:
8102683
An example controller for a switched mode power supply includes a zero-crossing detector, a feedback reference circuit, and a drive signal generator. The zero-crossing detector is coupled to generate a zero-crossing signal representative of a length of time that a zero-crossing condition of an input voltage of the power supply exists. The feedback reference circuit is to be coupled to receive a feedback signal and a reference signal, where the feedback signal is representative of an…
Power factor correction converter control offset
Granted: January 24, 2012
Patent Number:
8102164
Power factor correction converter control offset apparatus and methods are disclosed. In one aspect, an apparatus includes a control unit to generate a control signal to control a duty cycle of a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) switching signal that controls a switch in a PFC (Power Factor Correction) converter. An offset unit is also included and is coupled to the control unit, to generate a variable offset signal to offset the control signal or a signal used by the control unit to…
MOSFET having a JFET embedded as a body diode
Granted: January 17, 2012
Patent Number:
8097512
A field effect transistor, in accordance with one embodiment, includes a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) having a junction field effect transistor (JFET) embedded as a body diode.
Method and apparatus to control a power converter having a low loop bandwidth
Granted: January 17, 2012
Patent Number:
8098503
A power converter controller is disclosed. An example power converter controller includes a feedback sensor circuit coupled to receive a feedback signal representative of an output of the power converter. The controller also includes a feedback sampling signal generator coupled to generate a feedback sampling signal coupled to be received by the feedback sensor circuit. The feedback sensor circuit is coupled to sample the feedback signal in response to the feedback sampling signal. The…
Single-stage power supply with power factor correction and constant current output
Granted: January 17, 2012
Patent Number:
8098506
An example controller includes first, second and third inputs, a delayed ramp generator and a drive signal generator. The first, second and third inputs are coupled to receive an input voltage sense signal, an output voltage sense signal, and an input current sense signal, respectively. The drive signal generator is coupled to receive an input charge control signal generated by an input charge control signal generator and a delayed ramp signal generated by a delayed ramp generator. The…
VTS insulated gate bipolar transistor
Granted: January 10, 2012
Patent Number:
8093621
In one embodiment, a power transistor device comprises a substrate that forms a PN junction with an overlying buffer layer. The power transistor device further includes a first region, a drift region that adjoins a top surface of the buffer layer, and a body region. The body region separates the first region from the drift region. First and second dielectric regions respectively adjoin opposing lateral sidewall portions of the drift region. The dielectric regions extend in a vertical…
Compact digital-to-analog converter
Granted: January 10, 2012
Patent Number:
8094055
A digital-to-analog converter is disclosed. An example digital-to-analog converter circuit includes a reference scaling circuit coupled to receive a first reference current. The reference scaling circuit is coupled to generate a second reference current in response to the first reference current. The digital-to-analog converter circuit also includes a first plurality of binary-weighted current sources coupled to a summing node. A current of a first one of the first plurality of…
Method and apparatus to limit maximum switch current in a switching power supply
Granted: January 3, 2012
Patent Number:
8089781
An example integrated circuit for use in a power supply includes a switch, a terminal and a controller. The controller is coupled to control switching of the switch to regulate the output of the power supply in response to a feedback signal received at the terminal. The controller includes a comparator and an oscillator. The comparator is coupled to detect when a switch current through the switch exceeds a current limit and the oscillator is coupled to extend an off time of the switch in…
Method and apparatus for limiting maximum output power of a power converter
Granted: December 20, 2011
Patent Number:
8081496
An example power converter includes an energy transfer element, a switch, a controller, and a current offset circuit. The controller is coupled to switch the switch between an ON state and an OFF state to regulate the output of the power converter. The controller is also adapted to terminate the ON state of the switch in response to a switch current flowing through the switch reaching a switch current threshold. An auxiliary winding of the energy transfer element is adapted to generate…
Method of fabricating a deep trench insulated gate bipolar transistor
Granted: December 13, 2011
Patent Number:
8076723
In one embodiment, a method comprises forming an epitaxial layer over a substrate of an opposite conductivity type, the epitaxial layer being separated by a buffer layer having a doping concentration that is substantially constant in a vertical direction down to the buffer layer. A pair of spaced-apart trenches is formed in the epitaxial layer from a top surface of the epitaxial layer down at least into the buffer layer. A dielectric material is formed in the trenches over the first and…
Method and apparatus for power converter fault condition detection
Granted: December 13, 2011
Patent Number:
8077486
An example controller includes a fault detector and a control. The fault detector is to be coupled to a feedback circuit of a power converter to detect a fault condition in the power converter in response to an input voltage of the power converter. The control is coupled to the fault detector and is to be coupled to control the switching of a power switch to regulate an output of the power converter. The control is coupled to inhibit the switching of the power switch in response to the…
Apparatus and method for detecting a change in output voltage of an isolated power converter
Granted: December 13, 2011
Patent Number:
8077484
A controller for use in a power converter to detect changes in output voltage. An example controller includes a drive circuit to generate a switching signal. The switching signal is coupled to be received by a power switch to be coupled to an energy transfer element and an input of the power converter to control a transfer of energy from the input of the power converter to an output of the power converter. An output voltage sensor is coupled to the drive circuit and coupled to receive a…
Method and apparatus for sensing multiple voltage values from a single terminal of a power converter controller
Granted: December 13, 2011
Patent Number:
8077483
An example controller for a power converter according to aspects of the present invention includes a switching control that switches a power switch to regulate an output of a power converter. The controller also includes a sensor coupled to receive a signal from a single terminal of the controller. The signal from the single terminal is representative of a line input voltage of the power converter during at least a portion of an on time of the power switch. The signal from the single…
Method and apparatus for implementing slew rate control using bypass capacitor
Granted: November 22, 2011
Patent Number:
8063622
A circuit to control the slew rate of charging a capacitance using the capacitance is disclosed. An example circuit includes a regulator circuit to regulate a supply voltage during a normal operation mode of the circuit. A capacitance circuit is coupled to the regulator circuit. The regulator circuit is coupled to charge a capacitance between a first node and a second node of the capacitance circuit with a charge current. A slew rate control circuit is coupled to the regulator circuit…
Method and apparatus for simplifying the control of a switch
Granted: November 22, 2011
Patent Number:
8063672
A technique for simplifying the control of a switch is presented. In one embodiment, a method of controlling a switch as a function of the voltage across the switch is presented. In one embodiment a method of controlling a switch as a function of the slope of the voltage across the switch is present. In one embodiment a switching is switched on for an on time period that is substantially fixed in response to a voltage across the switch while the switch is off. In one embodiment a switch…
Method and apparatus to increase efficiency in a power factor correction circuit
Granted: October 18, 2011
Patent Number:
8040114
A controller for use in a power factor correction (PFC) converter includes a power factor correction controller circuit coupled to output a drive signal to switch a power switch between an on state and an off state to transfer energy to an output of the PFC converter. The controller also includes an switching frequency adjuster coupled to output a frequency adjust signal to the power factor correction controller circuit to adjust an average switching frequency of the power switch in…
Circuit with isolation interface and remote on/off
Granted: October 18, 2011
Patent Number:
8040705
A circuit with an isolation interface and a remote on/off function is disclosed. The circuit includes a controller included in a primary side of the circuit. The controller is coupled to receive a primary side feedback signal and the controller is configured to enter a shutdown mode when the primary side feedback signal exceeds a feedback signal threshold. The circuit also includes an isolation interface coupled to galvanically isolate the primary side from a secondary side of the…
Method and apparatus for integrated cable drop compensation of a power converter
Granted: October 11, 2011
Patent Number:
8035254
An integrated circuit controller for a power converter to be coupled to a distribution network is disclosed. An example integrated circuit controller according to aspects of the present invention includes a switching control circuit that outputs a drive signal to control switching of a switch to regulate an output of the power converter. The integrated circuit controller also includes a cable drop compensator that outputs a compensated reference voltage signal to the switching control…
Tracking and fault communication for DC power supply modules
Granted: October 11, 2011
Patent Number:
8035939
A plurality of DC power supply modules have track pins interconnected for tracking of output voltages of the modules during power-up and normal power-down. Each module pulls down its track pin voltage in response to any fault, and detects a track pin voltage below a threshold to detect a fault communicated from any other module, to facilitate fault power-down. The track pin voltage is initially raised above the threshold for power-up. One module can be designated a master for monitoring…
