Power supply for providing an electrical pulse to an electrical consumer and a tester comprising the power supply

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11469662-B2
Application number	US-201816108030-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2018
Priority date	Feb 23, 2016
Publication date	Oct 11, 2022
Grant date	Oct 11, 2022

Abstract

A power supply for providing an electric pulse to an electrical consumer is shown. The power supply has an input circuit, a storage capacitor, and an output circuit. The input circuit is configured to charge the storage capacitor up to a maximum voltage. The output circuit is configured to provide one or more pulses having a pulse voltage on the basis of a charge stored in the storage capacitor and to compensate for a reduction of the voltage of the storage capacitor by at least 30% down from the maximum voltage. Moreover, the power supply is configured such that the voltage of the storage capacitor is reduced by at least 30% during the generation of one or more pulses.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A power supply for providing an electric pulse to an electrical consumer, the power supply comprising:
an input circuit;
a storage capacitor; and
an output circuit;
wherein the input circuit is configured to charge the storage capacitor to a maximum voltage;
wherein the output circuit is configured to provide one or more pulses comprising a pulse voltage on a basis of a charge stored in the storage capacitor;
wherein the output circuit is configured to compensate for a reduction of a voltage of the storage capacitor by at least 30% from the maximum voltage; and
wherein the power supply is configured to reduce the voltage of the storage capacitor by at least 30% due to the generation of the one or more pulses.

2. The power supply according to claim 1 , wherein the output circuit is configured to dynamically compensate the reduction of the voltage such that the pulse voltage with a constant voltage is provided even though the voltage of the storage capacitor decreases.

3. The power supply according to claim 1 , wherein the output circuit comprises one of a DC/DC converter, a buck-boost converter, a wide input buck converter, a boost converter, or a flyback converter.

4. The power supply according to claim 1 , wherein the output circuit is configured to provide the one or more pulses with more power from the storage capacitor when compared to a maximum power derivable from the input circuit.

5. The power supply according to claim 1 , wherein the output circuit is configured to provide the one or more pulses with a power from the storage capacitor.

6. The power supply according to claim 1 , wherein the output circuit is configured to provide the one or more pulses with a power from the storage capacitor, wherein the power from the storage capacitor is between 3 and 100 times greater than a maximum power derivable from the input circuit.

7. The power supply according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a controller configured to estimate a power used to provide the one or more pulses, wherein the controller is further configured to compare the estimated power with a retrievable power from the storage capacitor to generate a comparison result and configured to determine, based on the comparison result, a point in time to provide the one or more pulses to the electrical consumer such that sufficient power is retrievable at the determined point in time to provide the one or more pulses.

8. The power supply according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a second output circuit configured to provide one or more second pulses comprising a further second pulse voltage on the basis of the charge stored in the storage capacitor;
wherein the second output circuit is configured to compensate for the reduction of the voltage of the storage capacitor by at least 30% from the maximum voltage.

9. The power supply according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a controller configured to estimate a power used to form the one or more pulses and to estimate a second power used to form the one or more pulses, wherein the controller is configured to compare the estimated power and the estimated second power with a retrievable energy stored in the storage capacitor to generate a comparison result and configured to determine, based on the comparison result, a point in time to provide the one or more pulses to the electrical consumer and to determine, based on the comparison result, a second point in time to provide the one or more pulses to the electrical consumer such that sufficient power is retrievable at the determined point in time to form the one or more pulses and such that sufficient power is retrievable at the determined second point in time to form the one or more pulses.

10. The power supply according to claim 1 , wherein a duration of the one or more pulses is below 10 ms.

11. A tester for testing a device under test, the tester comprising:
a power supply comprising an input circuit, a storage capacitor, and an output circuit, wherein the input circuit is configured to charge the storage capacitor to a maximum voltage, wherein the output circuit is configured to provide one or more pulses comprising a pulse voltage on a basis of a charge stored in the storage capacitor wherein the output circuit is configured to compensate for a reduction of a voltage of the storage capacitor by at least 30% from the maximum voltage, wherein the power supply is configured to reduce the voltage of the storage capacitor by at least 30% due to generation of one or more pulses, and wherein the power supply is configured to use the one or more pulses to provide the device under test with a stimulating signal.

12. A method comprising:
providing a buck-boost converter or a flyback converter in a power supply;
using the buck-boost converter or the flyback converter to form an electric pulse comprising a pulse voltage on the basis of a charge stored in the storage capacitor, wherein the pulse voltage is greater than an input voltage to the power supply;
compensating for a reduction of a voltage of the storage capacitor, wherein the compensating includes dynamically compensating the reduction of the voltage of the storage capacitor such that a constant pulse voltage is provided even though the voltage of the storage capacitor decreases; and
using the buck-boost converter or the flyback converter to form a second electric pulse comprising a second pulse voltage that is smaller than the input voltage.

13. A method for operating a power supply for providing an electric pulse to an electrical consumer, the method comprising:
charging a storage capacitor up to a maximum voltage;
providing one or more pulses comprising a pulse voltage on a basis of a charge stored in the storage capacitor;
compensating for a reduction of a voltage of the storage capacitor by at least 30% from the maximum voltage; and
reducing the voltage of the storage capacitor by at least 30% due to generation of the one or more pulses.

14. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising:
providing a device under test with a stimulating signal from the power supply using the one or more pulses, wherein the device under test is coupled to a tester for testing the device under test.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein one or more pulses are provided with more power from the storage capacitor when compared to a maximum power derivable from the input circuit.

16. The method according to claim 12 , wherein one or more pulses are provided with power from the storage capacitor.

17. The method according to claim 12 , wherein one or more pulses are provided with power from the storage capacitor, wherein the power from the storage capacitor is between 3 and 100 times greater than a maximum power derivable from the input circuit.

18. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising:
estimating a power used to provide the one or more pulses;
comparing the estimated power with a retrievable power from the storage capacitor to generate a comparison result; and
determining, based on the comparison result, a point in time to provide the one or more pulses to the electrical consumer such that sufficient power is retrievable at the determined point in time to provide the one or more pulses.

19. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising:
providing one or more second pulses comprising a further second pulse voltage on the basis of the charge stored in the storage capacitor.

Assignees

• Advantest Corp

Inventors

• Thoma Anton

Classifications

• H02M3/07 Primary

  using capacitors charged and discharged alternately by semiconductor devices with control electrode {, e.g. charge pumps} · CPC title

• H02M1/0038

  Circuits or arrangements for suppressing, e.g. by masking incorrect turn-on or turn-off signals, e.g. due to current spikes in current mode control · CPC title

• H02M1/00

  Details of apparatus for conversion · CPC title

• G01R1/30

  Structural combination of electric measuring instruments with basic electronic circuits, e.g. with amplifier · CPC title