The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 04, 2009
Filed:
Aug. 16, 2004
Wei Dong, Plano, TX (US);
Hiep Tran, Dallas, TX (US);
Hugh T. Mair, Fairview, TX (US);
Uming Ko, Plano, TX (US);
Wei Dong, Plano, TX (US);
Hiep Tran, Dallas, TX (US);
Hugh T. Mair, Fairview, TX (US);
Uming Ko, Plano, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
System and method for providing power to circuitry while avoiding a large transient current. A preferred embodiment comprises a distributed switch (such as switch arrangement) with a plurality of switches (such as switch) coupling a power supply to the circuitry. Each switch is individually controlled by a control signal and is turned on sequentially. Also coupled to each switch is a pre-driver circuit (such as pre-driver circuit). The pre-driver circuit comprises a potential adjust circuit (such as potential adjust circuit) that rapidly adjusts a voltage potential at the switch and a rate adjust circuit (such as the rate adjust circuit) that accelerates the power ramp-up across the switch once transient currents are no longer a concern. Adjusting the voltage potential so that the switch operates in a saturation mode increases an effective capacitance across the switch and thereby retarding the power ramp-up across the switch.