Efficient switching of output stage power driver

Abstract

The circuits and methods described herein provide technical solutions for technical problems facing power driver circuits. To reduce or eliminate effects associated with a gate capacitance discharge current and inconsistent effective V, the discharge process may be split into two phases. During a first phase, the transistor gate charge is drained into ground through a large path gate. The ground (GND) features a very low impedance, hence the resulting δV(t)|is negligible even for high discharge currents. The transistor gate node voltage (V) is constantly monitored, and the discharge process switches from the first phase to the second phase when Vtransgresses a bias voltage threshold based on the target value of V. To switch from the first phase to the second phase, the current path into GND is cut by switching its path gate to an OFF state, and an alternative path is enabled between transistor gate charge and V.