Fault tolerant MOSFET driver
US5796274A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 16, 1996 |
| Grant date | Aug 18, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 16, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03K17/693
- WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A MOSFET switched, redundant power supply has a back-to-back MOSFET switch connecting respectively each power supply to a single load. Each power supply has a positive and negative gate voltage source. In a specific N-channel MOSFET embodiment, the positive (i.e. on) bias is coupled to each switch via a radiation hardened, redundant analogue switch capable of being driven by, for example, a TTL or CMOS microprocessor signal. The negative (i.e. off) bias is coupled to each via a redundant diode pair. In addition, the gates of the back-to-back MOSFET switch for one power source are also connected to the negative bias of the other power source. In this way the MOSFET switch for a failed power supply will be maintained in an off state by the negative bias provided by the redundant supply.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.