Integrated hall-controlled switch devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9496867-B2
Application number	US-201615041825-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2016
Priority date	Oct 6, 2011
Publication date	Nov 15, 2016
Grant date	Nov 15, 2016

Abstract

Embodiments relate to Hall-controlled switch devices. In an embodiment, a Hall switch and a load switch are integrated in a single integrated circuit device. Embodiments can provide load switching and optional simultaneous logic signaling, for example to update a microcontroller or electronic control unit (ECU), while reducing space and complexity and thereby cost.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A Hall-controlled device comprising:
an integrated circuit package;
Hall switch circuitry disposed in the integrated circuit package;
load switch circuitry coupled to the Hall switch circuitry and disposed in the integrated circuit package; and
a leadframe disposed in the integrated circuit package, wherein the Hall switch circuitry is arranged on a first, top side of the leadframe configured to face a magnetic field source and the load switch circuitry is arranged on a second, bottom side of the leadframe configured to face a circuit board or other mounting surface to which the leadframe is configured to attach opposing the first side.

2. The Hall-controlled device of claim 1 , further comprising a pull-up resistor coupled to the Hall switch circuitry and the load switch circuitry.

3. The Hall-controlled device of claim 2 , wherein the pull-up resistor is disposed in the package.

4. The Hall-controlled device of claim 1 , wherein the load switch circuitry comprises one of a transistor, an active power switch, an nMOS device, a pMOS device, a linear current source, or a switched current source.

5. The Hall-controlled device of claim 1 , wherein the Hall switch circuitry comprises a Hall probe.

6. The Hall-controlled device of claim 1 , wherein the load switch circuitry is configured to switch a load in a range of about 100 milliamps (mA) to about 50 A.

7. The Hall-controlled device of claim 6 , wherein the load switch circuitry is configured to switch a load in a range of about 100 mA to about 20 A.

8. The Hall-controlled device of claim 6 , wherein the load comprises a light or an LED.

9. The Hall-controlled device of claim 1 , wherein the Hall switch circuitry is configured to send a logic signal to a microcontroller.

10. The Hall-controlled device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one additional load switch circuitry coupled to the Hall switch circuitry and disposed in the package.

11. The Hall-controlled device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of integrated load protection circuitry or integrated load diagnostics disposed in the package.

12. A method comprising:
sensing a magnetic field by a Hall-effect sensor arranged on a first, top side of a leadframe disposed in a package, wherein the first, top side of the leadframe is configured to face a magnetic field source;
sending a signal related to the magnetic field by the Hall-effect sensor to a load switch arranged on a second, bottom side of the leadframe disposed in the package, wherein the second, bottom side of the leadframe is configured to face a circuit board or other mounting surface to which the leadframe is configured to attach opposing the first side; and
selectively switching a load by the load switch according to the signal from the Hall-effect sensor using the load switch.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein sending a signal further comprises sending a signal related to the magnetic field by the sensor to a microcontroller.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising integrating a pull-up resistor in the package.

15. An integrated circuit comprising:
Hall-effect switching circuitry comprising a Hall-effect element;
load switching circuitry coupled to the Hall-effect switching circuitry;
an integrated circuit package housing the Hall-effect switching circuitry and the load switching circuitry; and
a leadframe disposed in the integrated circuit package, wherein the Hall-effect switching circuitry is arranged on a first, top side of the leadframe configured to face a magnetic field source and the load switching circuitry is arranged on a second, bottom side of the leadframe configured to face a circuit board or other mounting surface to which the leadframe is configured to attach opposing the first side.

16. The integrated circuit of claim 15 , further comprising a pull-up resistor housed in the package.

17. The integrated circuit of claim 15 , wherein the Hall-effect switching circuitry is configured to send a logic signal and a load-control signal in parallel.

18. A Hall-controlled device comprising:
an integrated circuit package;
Hall switch circuitry arranged in the integrated circuit package;
load switch circuitry arranged in the integrated circuit package and coupled to the Hall switch circuitry;
a back bias magnetic material coupled to the integrated circuit package; and
a leadframe disposed in the integrated circuit package, wherein the Hall switch circuitry is arranged on a first, top side of the leadframe configured to face a magnetic field source and the load switch circuitry is arranged on a second, bottom side of the leadframe configured to face a circuit board or other mounting surface to which the leadframe is configured to attach opposing the first side.

19. The Hall-controlled device of claim 18 , wherein the back bias magnetic material is coupled to the integrated circuit package within the integrated circuit package.

Assignees

• Infineon Technologies Ag

Inventors

• Maerz Sebastian
• Le Gall Jean-Marie

Classifications

• H03K17/9517 Primary

  using galvanomagnetic devices · CPC title

• H05B47/10

  Controlling the light source · CPC title

• H05B37/0209

  Electricity · mapped topic