Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC

Fairchild Korea Semiconductor Ltd.

Hyunsoo Bae

Kinam Song

Wonhi Oh

Jinkyu Choi

Samuell Shin

JunHo Lee

Sangmin Park

Seungjae Lee

A circuit and method for detecting a failure of a switching power device is disclosed. The circuit and method utilize a Kelvin connection of a four-terminal configuration of the switching power device to sense a resistance of at least one wire-bond. The resistance corresponds to a defect or defects in the at least one wire-bond and so it can be used to detect a failure before damage occurs. A threshold used for detecting the failure can be adjusted to accommodate variations in the switching power device and/or the application in which it is being used. Additionally, the failure detection is carried out at a period after the switching power device is turned ON to prevent switching transients from affecting the detection.

Circuit and method to detect defects in a power switching device

A bi-directional transmitter/receiver according to an embodiment includes a pin connected with a main control circuit, a transistor connected with a first electrode to the pin, a Schmitt trigger which determines an output according to a voltage of the pin, and a temperature sensor which is connected to the pin and which senses temperature and outputs temperature information to the pin. A driving circuit for controlling switching operation of one or more switches includes a bi-directional transmitter/receiver.

Bi-directional transmitter/receiver comprising temperature sensor and driving circuit comprising the same

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Incheon, South Korea

Hyunsoo Bae