Patent · US Active

Apparatus for detecting a state of operation of a power semiconductor device

US7940034B2 · kind B2 · utility

8Cited by

7References

28Claims

0Family size

Assignee

Infineon Technologies Austria AG · AT

Inventors

Georg Pelz · Ebersberg, DE
Michael Lenz · Zorneding, DE
Matthias Kunze · Neubiberg, DE

Key dates

Filing date	May 19, 2008
Grant date	May 10, 2011
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Jun 13, 2029

Classification

Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
CPC primaryH03K2017/0806
WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An embodiment of the invention relates to an apparatus including a power semiconductor device and a processor coupled thereto. The processor is configured to provide a control signal to the power semiconductor device to regulate an output characteristic of the apparatus. The processor models an internal characteristic of the power semiconductor device and alters the control signal if the modeled internal characteristic crosses a threshold value. In an exemplary embodiment, the internal characteristic is a channel temperature of a MOSFET. A sensor such as a thermistor is coupled to or included within the processor to sense a parameter separate from the power semiconductor device, such as a processor temperature, and the processor is configured to adapt the modeled internal characteristic to the sensed parameter.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.