Stmicroelectronics S.r.l.

Stmicroelectronics (rousset) Sas

Sgs-thomson Microelectronics S.r.l.

Stmicroelectronics Application Gmbh

Stmicroelectronics (grenoble 2) Sas

Romeo Letor

Vanni Poletto

Ferdinando Iucolano

Antoine Pavlin

Alfio Russo

Nadia Lecci

Leonardo Fragapane

Roberto Tiziani

Mirko Dondini

Antonino Torres

Santo Alessandro Smerzi

Manuel Gaertner

Vincenzo Randazzo

Calogero Andrea Trecarichi

Giovanni Susinna

Alberto Marzo

Francesco Giuffré

Enrico Castro

Roberto Crisafulli

Giuseppe Di Caro

Veronica Puntorieri

Simone Bianchi

Marco Brera

Antonio Filippo Massimo Pizzardi

Embodiments are directed to electronic fuse devices and systems. One such electronic fuse includes current sensing circuitry that senses a current in a conductor coupled between a power supply and a load, and generates a current sensing signal indicative of the sensed current. I2t circuitry receives the current sensing signal and determines whether the sensed current exceeds an I2t curve of the conductor. The electronic fuse further includes at least one of external MOSFET temperature sensing circuitry that senses a temperature of an external MOSFET coupled to the conductor, low current bypass circuitry that supplies a reduced current to the load in a low power consumption mode during which the external MOSFET is in a non-conductive state, or desaturation sensing circuitry that senses a drain-source voltage of the external MOSFET.

Electronic fuse systems and devices

An electronic module for generating light pulses includes an electronic card or interposer, a LASER-diode lighting module, and a LASER-diode driver module. The interposer has an edge recess in which the lighting module is completely inserted. The driver module is arranged on top of the interposer and the lighting module. The electrical connections for driving the LASER diodes are obtained without resorting to wire bonding in order to reduce the parasitic inductances.

Electronic module for generating light pulses for LIDAR applications and method for manufacturing the electronic module

A pulse generator circuit includes: an LC resonant circuit coupled between a first node and a reference node; a first switch coupled between the first node and the reference node; a switching network comprising a second switch coupled between the first node and a respective drive node; and drive circuit having outputs coupled to the first switch and to the second switch of the switching network. The drive circuit is configured to, in repeating cycles: close the first switch so that a current flowing through an inductor of the LC resonant circuit increases during a resonant cycle, when the current flowing through the inductor reaches a threshold value, open the first switch, close the second switch of the switching network for a pulse duration time when the first switch is open, and open the second switch at an expiration of the pulse duration time.

Pulse generator circuit, related system and method

An embodiment pulse generator circuit is configured to apply a current pulse to two output terminals. The pulse generator circuit comprises an LC resonant circuit comprising an inductance and a capacitance connected in series between a first node and a negative input terminal. The pulse generator circuit comprises a charge circuit configured to charge the capacitance via a supply voltage, a first electronic switch configured to selectively short-circuit the two output terminals, a second electronic switch configured to selectively connect the two output terminals in parallel with the LC resonant circuit, and a control circuit configured to drive the first and the second electronic switch.

Pulse generator circuit, related laser system and method

A system to monitor a MOSFET, the system including a switching arrangement configured to switchably isolate a gate terminal of the MOSFET and a source terminal of the MOSFET from a gate-control voltage source and a test circuit configured to detect a change in a gate-to-source voltage of the MOSFET over a test period, the test period occurring while the gate terminal and the source terminal are isolated.

Systems and methods to monitor leakage current

An embodiment pulse generator circuit comprises a first electronic switch coupled between first and second nodes, and a second electronic switch coupled between the second node and a reference node. An LC resonant circuit comprising an inductance and a capacitance is coupled between the first and reference nodes along with charge circuitry comprises a further inductance in a current flow line between a supply node and an intermediate node in the LC resonant circuit. Drive circuitry of the electronic switches repeats, during a sequence of switching cycles, charge time intervals, wherein the capacitance in the LC resonant circuit is charged via the charge circuit, and pulse generation time intervals, wherein a pulsed current is provided to the load via the first and second nodes. The charge and pulse generation time intervals are interleaved with oscillation time intervals where the LC resonant circuit oscillates at a resonance frequency.

Described herein is a method including measuring a current in a wire, normalizing the measured current, and comparing the normalized measured current to a control curve. The control curve is a function of a series of normalized current magnitudes and reaction times for corresponding ones of that series of normalized current magnitudes. The method further includes limiting the current in the wire based upon the comparison. The reaction times for ones of the series of normalized current magnitudes are times at which current limitation would occur if the normalized current remained at an associated normalized current magnitude.

Protection circuit, corresponding system and method

A protection circuit for an automotive wiring harness includes an input node receiving a sensing signal indicating intensity of current in a conductor, an output node emitting a current control output signal to reduce the current and/or emitting a warning signal indicating the current intensity having reached a limit value. Signal processing circuitry coupled to the input node compares the current intensity with a reference value, and produces a comparison signal indicating whether the current intensity exceeds the reference value. A counting circuitry driven by the comparison signal counts in a first count direction as a result of the comparison signal indicating that the current intensity exceeds the reference value. Latching circuitry coupled to the counter circuitry generates the output signal at the output node as a result of the count value of the counter circuitry reaching a limit value.

A method of detecting an angular position of a rotor of a motor includes detecting switching ripple peaks and armature current disturbance peaks using a peak detector configured to generate a square wave having edges coinciding with detected peaks. The method further includes filtering the square wave in a time domain by generating an integration ramp, toward a set value, of an estimated ripple frequency for an interval of time based on the estimated ripple frequency. An enablement range is established to reset the integration ramp by setting a threshold below and above the set value and a time window centered on an end time of each period of the estimated ripple frequency. The method further includes resetting the integration ramp, and updating the estimated ripple frequency based upon a period determined by a time of the resetting, if an edge of the square wave is within the time window.

Detection of the angular position of the rotor of a brush motor without using sensors

The method detects variations of the torque of a DC motor and is particularly suited for detecting an accidental block of the motor operation. The method includes generating a first signal representing the current flowing in the motor, multiplying the first signal with a pre-established function producing a product signal, generating a comparison signal to correspond to the slope of the product signal and signaling a torque variation if the comparison signal surpasses a certain threshold. The method is implemented by a control circuit for detecting a torque variation of an electric DC motor, including a sensor for the current flowing in the motor, and generating a first signal, a first circuit for generating a product signal of the first signal by a pre-established function, a second circuit for generating a comparison signal to correspond to the slope of the product signal, and a comparator of the comparison signal with a certain threshold, signaling a torque variation when the comparison signal surpasses the threshold.

Method and relative circuit for detecting a torque variation of an electric DC motor

An integrated power device having a power transistor made up of a first diode and a second diode that are connected together in series between a collector region and emitter-contact region of the power transistor to define a common intermediate node, a control circuit including a high-voltage region bonded on the emitter-contact region ( ) by means of an adhesive layer, and biasing circuit connected between the common intermediate node and the high-voltage region. The biasing circuit including a contact pad electrically connected to the common intermediate node, an electrical connection region that is in electrical contact with the high-voltage region ( ), and a wire having a first end soldered on the contact pad and a second end soldered on said electrical connection region.

Integrated power device with improved efficiency and reduced overall dimensions

A fast operating, electronic overvoltage protection device intended for a power transistor having at least one control terminal of the MOS type is disclosed. The device comprises a Zener diode associated with the power transistor and integrated together therewith in a semiconductor substrate, and a second transistor connected to the power transistor into a Darlington configuration and also connected to the Zener diode. The protection from overvoltages provided by the device is very fast in operation, and can be implemented in integrated form at reduced cost and without introducing parasitic elements.

Growing community of inventors

Mascalucia, Italy

Romeo Letor