Richtek Technology Corporation

Industrial Technology Research Institute

Chang-Yu Ho

Kuo-Chi Liu

Chen-Kuo Lai

Wen-Chuan Chen

Ying-Min Chen

Jia-Cheng Ke

A heating apparatus includes: first and second heaters, first and second switches, first and second ramp signal generation circuits, a signal processor circuit, first and second comparison circuits, and a switch control circuit. The first and second ramp signal generation circuits generate first and second ramp signals according to first and second output currents, respectively. The signal processor circuit senses a temperature to generate a temperature-related signal. The first and second comparison circuits compare the first and second ramp signals with the temperature-related signal, to generate a first PWM signal and a second PWM signal for controlling the first and second switches respectively, to determine the first and second output currents so that there is a predetermined ratio between average powers of the first heater and the second heater.

Heating apparatus and temperature control circuit and temperature control method thereof

A power conversion apparatus for tracking maximum power point (MPP) includes: a signal processing circuit generating a first sensing signal at a sensing node; a first comparison circuit generating a first control signal according to a difference between the first sensing signal and a first reference voltage; and a second comparison circuit sensing a second sensing signal generated from the conversion circuit. The second comparison circuit generates a second control signal according to a difference between the second sensing signal and a reference signal. The signal processing circuit includes a bias sensing circuit and a clamp circuit. The bias sensing circuit adjusts the first sensing signal according to the second control signal, to adjust the first control signal. The conversion circuit adjusts a voltage and/or current of the output power according to the adjusted first control signal, so that a power retrieval source operates near its MPP.

Power conversion apparatus for tracking maximum power point and control method thereof

A charger circuit with temperature compensation function includes: a power converter, an input voltage sense circuit, an output adjustment circuit and a charging control circuit. The power converter converts an input voltage supplied from a photovoltaic power module to an output voltage. The input voltage sense circuit generates a signal related to the input voltage according to the input voltage. The output adjustment circuit generates an output adjustment signal according to the signal related to the input voltage. The charging control circuit generates a control signal according to the output adjustment signal, thereby adjusting a level of an output current supplied from the power converter. When a level of the input voltage is smaller than a predetermined voltage threshold, the power converter decreases the output current.

Charger circuit with temperature compensation function and controller circuit thereof

The invention relates to a method for estimating the state of charge (SOC) of a battery when battery is in the at least states of: charging, discharging, and relaxing. The invention makes use of the battery voltage (VBAT) instead of the battery current. In order to build models in the method, we use standard charging and discharging processes to collect battery information.

Method of estimating the state of charge of a battery and system thereof

A multi-source energy harvester system includes a power conversion apparatus. First and second energy harvesters respectively harvest first and second energy and respectively provide first and second input powers. The power conversion apparatus includes an adjustable impedance matching circuit and a power conversion circuit. The impedance matching circuit generates an adjusted power according to the first input power. The power conversion circuit converts a bus power to an output power. The energy harvester system controls a first and a second switch circuits according to the adjusted power and/or the second input power to select and conduct one of the adjusted power or the second input power as the bus power, and adjusts an impedance of the adjustable impedance matching circuit to maximize a voltage of the adjusted power.

Multi-source energy harvester system and power conversion apparatus and method thereof

A power conversion apparatus for tracking maximum power point, includes: a signal processing circuit, which generates a sensing signal at a sensing node according to an input voltage; and a comparison circuit, which controls a converter circuit according to a difference between the sensing signal and a reference voltage, to convert the input voltage to an output power. The signal processing circuit includes: a bias sensing circuit, which generates the sensing signal at the sensing node according to the input voltage; and a clamp circuit coupled to the sensing node, for clamping the sensing signal to be not greater than a clamp voltage. The converter circuit adjusts an output voltage and/or an output current of the output power, so that a power retrieval source operates near its maximum power point.

A distributed-type input/output control IC is proposed to provide an integrated type improvement to the conventional remote control system. The distributed-type input/output control IC comprises a plurality of local digital IO and a plurality of remote IO master to control a plurality sets of local and remote systems and to simplify wiring.

Integrated circuit for distributed-type input/output control

The present invention is an integral-type IC for multiple-axis position control to provide highly integrated and modular design for the positioning control of automatic system. The inventive IC comprises a plurality of digital differential analyzers (DDA) with output pulse circuit which convert the position command to pulse form, a plurality of servo motor position closed loop control positioning circuit, and a plurality of counters that works with motor encoder to precisely control the rotation speed and motion position of the motor. Thus the invention the position control function in a single IC.

Integrated circuit for multiple-axis position control

A chip device for positioning control and position recording of a servo motor. The chip device can be operated in two modes: a first mode, and a second mode. In the first mode, the chip device can perform step command conversion, position loop control, multiple shaft synchronization, and recording of the position of the motor shaft. The step command conversion utilizes a digital-differential analysis (DDA) method to convert the step waveform in the command signal into ramp waveform for smoothed control of the servo motor. The position loop control circuit compute for the error in position and then compensates the error to generate a 12-bit 2's complement output which is subsequently converted to analog signal used to drive the servo motor. The purpose of multiple shaft synchronization is to allow a plurality of servo motor to rotate in synchronization and accurately with the same increments. The recording of the position of the motor shaft is achieved by counting the number of pulses from a position encoder coupled to the servo motor. The chip device is fast in processing speed, small in size, and reliable in operation, and allows synchronization among a plurality of servo motors. Moreover, the chip device can be built with fewer components so that production cost can be reduced.

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Hsinchu, Taiwan

Chang-Yu Ho