Methods and apparatus to improve switching conditions in a closed loop system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11218146-B2
Application number	US-202016921552-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2020
Priority date	Jul 26, 2018
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

A device includes: a capacitor having first and second terminals; a first switch; a second switch coupled to the second terminal; a first multiplier coupled between the first and second terminals; a second multiplier coupled between the first and second terminals; and a buffer having an input terminal and an output terminal. The first switch is coupled between the output terminal and the first terminal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device comprising:
a capacitor having first and second terminals;
a first switch;
a second switch coupled to the second terminal;
a first multiplier coupled between the first and second terminals;
a second multiplier coupled between the first and second terminals; and
a buffer having an input terminal and an output terminal, the first switch coupled between the output terminal and the first terminal.

2. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a voltage divider coupled to the input terminal.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the input terminal is a first input terminal, the output terminal is a first output terminal, and the device further comprises:
a second buffer having a second input terminal and a second output terminal, the second switch coupled between the second output terminal and the second terminal of the capacitor; and
a voltage divider having first and second outputs, the first output coupled to the first input terminal, and the second output coupled to the second input terminal.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first multiplier is adapted to be coupled to at least one trigger, and the first multiplier is configured to adjust a multiplication ratio of the first multiplier responsive to the trigger.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first terminal is configured to be charged to a first threshold, and the second terminal is configured to be charged to a second threshold.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the second terminal is configured to discharge to the first threshold.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first multiplier includes current mirrors configured to adjust a multiplication ratio of the first multiplier by generating a current gain.

8. A system, comprising:
a first capacitor having first and second terminals;
a first stage coupled to the first terminal;
a second stage coupled to the second terminal, the second stage including a converter, the converter including a second capacitor, the converter configured to convert an analog signal to a digital signal, and the converter configured to reduce a settling time of converting the analog signal to the digital signal by:
charging the second capacitor;
responsive to the second capacitor reaching a first voltage threshold, adjusting a multiplier ratio of the converter to a first ratio; and
responsive to the second capacitor reaching a second voltage threshold, adjusting the multiplier ratio to a second ratio; and

the second stage configured to transmit the digital signal to the first stage via the first capacitor.

9. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a temperature sensor coupled to the second stage, the temperature sensor configured to provide the analog signal.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first ratio corresponds to a first slew rate of the second capacitor, and the second ratio corresponds to a second slew rate of the second capacitor.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first capacitor is configured to capacitively isolate the first stage from the second stage.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the second stage is coupled to a silicon carbide transistor.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first stage is coupled to a controller, and the controller is configured to adjust a switching speed of the silicon carbide transistor responsive to the digital signal.

Assignees

• Texas Instruments Inc

Inventors

• Evans David Wayne
• Rapolu Kavitha

Classifications

• H03M1/0863

  of switching transients, e.g. glitches · CPC title

• H03K17/0822 Primary

  in field-effect transistor switches · CPC title

• H03K2017/0806

  against excessive temperature · CPC title

• H03K17/04206

  in field-effect transistor switches · CPC title