Synchronous switching circuit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10111287-B2
Application number	US-201615253386-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2016
Priority date	Sep 15, 2015
Publication date	Oct 23, 2018
Grant date	Oct 23, 2018

Abstract

An electrical circuit, in some embodiments, comprises a control circuit having a plurality of switches and an electrical load having a plurality of load components. A first of the plurality of switches is configured to control a first of the plurality of load components. A second of the plurality of switches is configured to control a second of the plurality of load components synchronously with the first of the plurality of switches.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical circuit, comprising:
a control circuit having a plurality of switches; and
an electrical load coupled to the control circuit and having a plurality of load components, wherein a first of the plurality of switches is configured to control a first of the plurality of load components, and wherein a second of the plurality of switches is configured to control a second of the plurality of load components synchronously with the first of the plurality of switches, and wherein an input of the second of the plurality of switches is coupled to an input of the first of the plurality of switches via a diode.

2. The electrical circuit of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of switches comprises a transistor.

3. The electrical circuit of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of switches comprises a n-type semiconductor (NPN) bipolar junction transistor (BJT) or a p-type semiconductor (PNP) BJT.

4. The electrical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the input of the first of the plurality of switches is coupled to a power supply.

5. The electrical circuit of claim 4 , wherein the diode is a Zener diode, wherein the input of the first of the plurality of switches is coupled to a cathode of the Zener diode, and wherein the input of the plurality of switches is coupled to an anode of the Zener diode.

6. The electrical circuit of claim 5 , wherein the Zener diode compensates for a variation in performance of the plurality of switches caused by a change in temperature of at least one of the plurality of switches or the plurality of load components.

7. The electrical circuit of claim 1 , wherein at least some of the plurality of load components comprise a light emitting diode (LED).

8. A control circuit, comprising:
a first transistor configured to switch a first component of an electrical load into an electrical circuit, the first transistor having a first transistor input; and
a second transistor configured to switch a second component of the electrical load into the electrical circuit synchronously with the first transistor, the second transistor having a second transistor input coupled to the first transistor input; and a Zener diode, wherein the Zener diode couples the second transistor input to the first transistor.

9. The control circuit of claim 8 , wherein the first transistor input is coupled to a cathode of the Zener diode, wherein the second transistor input is coupled to an anode of the Zener diode, and wherein the Zener diode is configured to compensate for a temperature drift among at least some of the first transistor, the second transistor, the first component of the electrical load, and the second component of the electrical load.

10. The control circuit of claim 9 , wherein the second transistor input is coupled to the anode of the Zener diode via an output of a voltage divider that comprises a plurality of resistors.

11. A control circuit, comprising:
a first transistor configured to switch a first component of an electrical load into an electrical circuit, the first transistor having a first transistor input; and
a second transistor configured to switch a second component of the electrical load into the electrical circuit synchronously with the first transistor, the second transistor having a second transistor input coupled to the first transistor input, wherein the first transistor comprises a p-type semiconductor (PNP) bipolar junction transistor (BJT), and wherein the second transistor comprises a n-type semiconductor (NPN) BJT.

12. A control circuit, comprising:
a first transistor configured to switch a first component of an electrical load into an electrical circuit, the first transistor having a first transistor input; and
a second transistor configured to switch a second component of the electrical load into the electrical circuit synchronously with the first transistor, the second transistor having a second transistor input coupled to the first transistor input, wherein in response to the second transistor switching the second component of the electrical load into the electrical circuit, the second transistor reconfigures at least a portion of the electrical load of the electrical circuit from a parallel topology to a series topology.

13. A control circuit, comprising:
a first transistor configured to switch a first component of an electrical load into an electrical circuit, the first transistor having a first transistor input; and
a second transistor configured to switch a second component of the electrical load into the electrical circuit synchronously with the first transistor, the second transistor having a second transistor input coupled to the first transistor input, wherein in response to the second transistor switching the second component of the electrical load into the electrical circuit synchronously with the first transistor, the second transistor switches the second component of the electrical load into the electrical circuit simultaneously with the first transistor or consecutively with the first transistor.

14. A synchronous switching circuit, comprising:
a p-type semiconductor (PNP) bipolar junction transistor (BJT) comprising:
a first base terminal coupled to a voltage source;
a first emitter terminal coupled to the voltage source; and
a first collector terminal coupled to a first load component;

a diode having a first terminal coupled to the first base terminal of the PNP BJT and a second terminal; and
a n-type semiconductor (NPN) bipolar junction transistor (BJT) comprising:
a second base terminal coupled to the second terminal of the diode and a ground potential;
a second emitter terminal coupled to the ground potential; and
a second collector terminal coupled to a second load component and the voltage source.

15. The synchronous switching circuit of claim 14 , wherein the diode is a Zener diode, wherein the first terminal of the diode is a cathode, and wherein the second terminal of the diode is an anode.

16. The synchronous switching circuit of claim 14 , wherein the first base terminal is coupled to the voltage source via a first resistor coupled between the first base terminal and the voltage source.

17. The synchronous switching circuit of claim 14 , wherein the second collector terminal is coupled to the voltage source via a second resistor coupled between the second collector terminal and the voltage source.

18. The synchronous switching circuit of claim 14 , wherein the second base terminal is coupled to the second terminal of the diode and the ground potential via a voltage divider comprising a third resistor and a fourth resistor, wherein the third resistor is coupled between the second base terminal and the second terminal of the diode, and wherein the fourth resistor is coupled between the second base terminal and the ground potential.

19. The synchronous switching circuit of claim 14 , wherein the PNP BJT and the NPN BJT activate or deactivate to control the first load component and the second load component simultaneously or consecutively.

Assignees

• Semiconductor Components Ind Llc

Inventors

• Niles Andrew
• O'Connor Kevin Joseph

Classifications

• H05B45/44

  with an active control inside an LED matrix · CPC title

• H05B45/395

  Linear regulators · CPC title

• Y02B20/343

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01L28/00

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L29/866

  Electricity · mapped topic