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:
Jun. 29, 2010
Filed:
May. 05, 2006
Bin Zhang, Apex, NC (US);
Bryan A. Legates, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Eric S. Young, Apex, NC (US);
Linear Technology Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A circuit for controlling pulsed current to a load, one application of which is in LED dimmer circuitry, comprises first and second reference nodes for receiving a supply voltage, an input node for receiving a timing signal such as a PWM signal, and a controlled switch coupled between the first and second reference voltage nodes for supplying current to the load. Pull-up circuitry may be coupled between a control electrode of the controlled switch and first reference voltage node, and a pull-down switch coupled between the control electrode and second reference voltage node. A control circuit coupled between the input node and control electrode of the controlled switch is configured to control the controlled switch in response to the timing signal. The circuit may further include a reference voltage source configured for producing a voltage of magnitude independent of supply voltage magnitude. The control circuit is coupled to the reference voltage source and operative to control the controlled switch in response to the timing signal and reference voltage.