Marc E Dagan

6614288, Sep 2, 2003

Sep 14, 2000

09/662498

Marc Dagan - Mountain View CA
Carl Keith Sawtell - San Jose CA
David Anthony Smith - Oxford, GB

Astec International Limited - Hong Kong

H03K 1700

327365, 327376, 327377, 327387, 363 20, 363 21

A circuit for controlling the switching behavior of a field effect transistor (FET) or other power switch in a power supply or converter. The circuit includes an adaptive feedback loop which controls the switching operation of the FET through application of a gate drive signal to the device. The circuit is designed to turn the switching device on or off at the optimum time to reduce the stress and power losses associated with the switching action. The circuit includes a capacitor connected to the FET switch drain to sense the falling voltage across the switch. The adaptive gate drive circuit holds the FET switch off until the drain voltage sensed by the capacitor stops decreasing. At this time, the FET switch voltage is either zero (zero-voltage switching) or has reached the minimum value of its resonant ring (low-voltage switching). The gate drive circuit then turns the FET switch on, initiating a new cycle of charging up the inductor or primary transformer winding which is part of the power supply or converter. The present invention, thus acts, to minimize switching stress and power loss during the switching cycle.

6815929, Nov 9, 2004

Mar 4, 2004

10/795154

Marc E. Dagan - Mountain View CA
Sergei Slavnov - Edinburgh, GB

Analog Devices, Inc. - Norwood MA

H02J 700

320121, 320146

A system and method for battery isolation in a charging system includes an isolation diode connected to a charger input voltage and a PNP pass transistor connected in series between the isolation diode and a battery. The pass device conducts a charging current in response to a drive signal applied to its base; the pass transistor side of the diode is at a voltage V. A first switch couples the pass transistors base to V when V V such that the pass transistors base-collector junction blocks current from V from flowing through the pass transistor when the charger is not in use, and a second switch couples the base to V when V V such that the pass transistors base-emitter junction blocks current from the battery from flowing through the pass transistor when the charger is not in use.

50855263, Feb 4, 1992

Jul 26, 1990

7/558820

Carl K. Sawtell - San Jose CA
Marc E. Dagan - Mountain View CA
Frederic S. Bandy - Milpitas CA

Astec International, Ltd.

H01K 308
H03K 526

374101

A programmable temperature detector for simple detection applications is described. The programmable temperature detector has three terminals and a plurality of temperature-transitions points from which to choose. A first terminal receives power from a supply, a second terminal receives a ground reference, and a third terminal provides an indication of an object's temperature crossing a selected temperature-transition point. The desired temperature transition point is specified by a single non-precision resistor coupled in series with the power terminal of the detector. The non-precision resistor and a power supply set a program signal, in the form of a current, into the power terminal of the detector. The programmable temperature detector comprises circuitry for quantizing the program signal into a discrete signal level and for selecting a temperature transition point in response.

20200336140, Oct 22, 2020

Jul 6, 2020

16/946755

- Phoenix AZ, US
Marc DAGAN - Mountain View CA, US
Xudong HUANG - Fremont CA, US

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC - Phoenix AZ

H03K 17/082
H02M 3/158
H02M 1/08

An adaptive gate driver for a driving a power MOSFET to switch is disclosed. The adaptive gate driver includes a load sense circuit to sense a current through the power MOSFET. A controller coupled to the load sense circuit compares the sensed current to a threshold to determine if the load on the power MOSFET is a normal load or a heavy load. Based on the comparison, the controller controls the gate driver to drive the power MOSFET with a first strength level when a normal load determined and at second strength level when a heavy load is determined. The driving strength in the heavy-load condition is lower than the normal-load condition and by lowering the driving strength of the gate driver during the heavy-load condition a voltage across the power MOSFET may be prevented from exceeding a threshold related to a breakdown condition during a switching period.

20200110128, Apr 9, 2020

Oct 3, 2018

16/150891

- Phoenix AZ, US
Marc DAGAN - Mountain View CA, US
Kaiwei YAO - Sunnyvale CA, US

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC - Phoenix AZ

G01R 31/26
H03K 3/011
H03K 17/687
G01R 19/00

The present disclosure describes a power stage. The power stage includes a metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and a driver IC coupled to the MOSFET. The driver IC is configured to switch the MOSFET to an ON-state so that MOSFET conducts a current. The driver IC includes a current monitor circuit that outputs a current monitor signal, which corresponds to the current through the MOSFET when it is in the ON-state. The current monitor signal includes an error caused by a temperature difference between the MOSFET and the driver IC. As a result, the driver IC further includes a compensation circuit that is configured to determine a thermal gradient across the driver IC, and based on the thermal gradient, adjust the current monitor circuit to reduce the error.

20200099375, Mar 26, 2020

Sep 25, 2019

16/582955

- Phoenix AZ, US
Marc DAGAN - Mountain View CA, US
Xudong HUANG - Fremont CA, US

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC - Phoenix AZ

H03K 17/082
H02M 3/158
H02M 1/08

An adaptive gate driver for a driving a power MOSFET to switch is disclosed. The adaptive gate driver includes a load sense circuit to sense a current through the power MOSFET. A controller coupled to the load sense circuit compares the sensed current to a threshold to determine if the load on the power MOSFET is a normal load or a heavy load. Based on the comparison, the controller controls the gate driver to drive the power MOSFET with a first strength level when a normal load determined and at second strength level when a heavy load is determined. The driving strength in the heavy-load condition is lower than the normal-load condition and by lowering the driving strength of the gate driver during the heavy-load condition a voltage across the power MOSFET may be prevented from exceeding a threshold related to a breakdown condition during a switching period.