Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC

Yi-Feng Hsia

Kinam Song

Vlad Anghel

Tai-Hua Chen

A power system including a gate driver configured with test circuitry to detect faults is disclosed. The power system may be configured to test the fault detection circuitry in order to confirm its ability to detect faults. Various methods and circuit implementations are disclosed to determine the ability of the system to detect faults. The testing may include different configurations and protocols in order to make conclusions about which components are likely responsible for a failure. These components may include components included in the gate driver or externally coupled to the gate driver. The disclose approach does not significantly add complexity because a test input to initiate a test may be communicated from a low voltage side to a high voltage side over a shared communication channel.

Fault protection testing in a high-power switching system

An electronic circuit includes a gate driver circuit. The gate driver circuit receives an input signal and a signal corresponding to a current through a switch, and produces, using the input signal, an output signal for controlling the switch. In response to the input signal being de-asserted, the gate driver circuit may turn the switch off at a normal turn-off rate when the current through the switch is less than an overcurrent (OC) threshold, and at an OC turn-off rate that is slower than the normal turn-off rate when the current through the switch is greater than the OC threshold.

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Scottsdale, AZ, United States of America

Yi-Feng Hsia