Circuitry and method for monitoring a power supply of an electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9651630-B2
Application number	US-201313944288-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2013
Priority date	Jul 17, 2013
Publication date	May 16, 2017
Grant date	May 16, 2017

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a circuitry including a first contact connected to a power supply, a first compare unit connected to the first contact and to a first reference signal, wherein the first compare unit is configured to compare a voltage at the first contact with the first reference signal and provide a first output signal for further processing.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A circuitry, comprising:
a first contact connected to a power supply, wherein the first contact is a junction between a substrate and a system in which the substrate is embedded or to which the substrate is electrically connected; and
a first compare unit connected to the first contact and to a first reference signal, and configured to compare a gradual change of a voltage at the first contact over time with the first reference signal and provide a first output signal for further processing based thereon,
wherein the gradual change of the voltage is extrapolated based on a history of monitored voltage values.

2. The circuitry according to claim 1 , wherein the first output signal indicates a difference between the voltage at the first contact and the first reference signal.

3. The circuitry according to claim 1 , further comprising a reference unit configured to provide the first reference signal.

4. The circuitry according to claim 3 , further comprising a shared reference potential to which the reference unit is connected.

5. The circuitry according to claim 1 , further comprising a second contact configured to provide the first reference signal, wherein the second contact is a junction between the substrate and the system in which the substrate is embedded or to which the substrate is electrically connected.

6. The circuitry according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a second contact connected to the power supply, wherein the second contact is a junction between the substrate and the system in which the substrate is embedded or to which the substrate is electrically connected; and
a second compare unit connected to the second contact and to the first reference signal, and configured to compare a gradual change of a voltage at the second contact over time with the first reference signal and provide a second output signal for further processing based thereon.

7. The circuitry according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a third contact connected to the power supply, wherein the third contact is a junction between the substrate and the system in which the substrate is embedded or to which the substrate is electrically connected;
a third compare unit connected to the third contact and to a second reference signal, and configured to compare a gradual change of a voltage at the third contact over time with the second reference signal and provide a third output signal for further processing based thereon;
a fourth contact connected to the power supply, wherein the fourth contact is a junction between the substrate and the system in which the substrate is embedded or to which the substrate is electrically connected;
a fourth compare unit connected to the fourth contact and to the second reference signal, and configured to compare a gradual change of a voltage at the fourth contact over time with the second reference signal and providing a fourth output signal for further processing based thereon; and
a reference unit configured to provide the first reference signal and the second reference signal.

8. The circuitry according to claim 7 , wherein the first contact and the second contact are connected to a first terminal of the power supply and the third contact and the fourth contact are connected to a second terminal of the power supply.

9. The circuitry according to claim 7 , further comprising a memory configured to store at least one of the first output signal, the second output signal, the third output signal and the fourth output signal.

10. The circuitry according to claim 7 , wherein the reference unit is an adjustable reference unit.

11. The circuitry according to claim 7 , wherein the first to fourth compare units each comprise at least one of the following: an operational amplifier, a compare unit, and an analog-to-digital converter.

12. The circuitry according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is at least one of the following: a substrate, a die, a chip, a module, a device, and a control unit.

13. The circuitry according to claim 1 , further comprising a processing unit conducting the further processing, wherein the further processing comprises at least one of the following:
issuing a notification,
issuing an alarm,
issuing a maintenance measure,
changing a mode of the circuitry, and
shutting down the circuitry or a portion thereof.

14. A method for monitoring a power supply of an electronic device comprising:
(a) determining a comparison result by comparing a gradual change of a voltage at a first contact over time that is connected to the power supply with a first reference signal, wherein the first contact is a junction between the substrate and the system in which the substrate is embedded or to which the substrate is electrically connected;
(b) monitoring the gradual change of the voltage at the first contact over time and determining whether the comparison result meets a predetermined condition, wherein the gradual change of the voltage is extrapolated based on a history of monitored voltage values; and
(c) conducting a predefined action if the comparison result meets the predetermined condition.

15. The method according to claim 14 , further comprising:
(d) continuing with act (a) if the comparison result does not meet the predetermined condition.

16. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the predetermined condition comprises at least one of the following:
exceeding a predefined threshold;
falling below a predefined threshold; and
exceeding or falling short of a predefined threshold range.

17. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the predefined action comprises at least one of the following:
issuing a notification,
issuing an alarm,
issuing a maintenance measure,
changing a mode of the circuitry, and
shutting down the device or a portion thereof.

18. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the predefined action comprises changing a monitoring mode.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the monitoring mode comprises at least one of the following parameters:
a monitoring rate,
a monitoring sensitivity, and
an averaging parameter.

20. The method according to claim 19 , wherein the monitoring rate indicates that monitoring is done in an iterative, regular, irregular, continuous or discontinuous way.

21. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the first reference signal is supplied by at least one of the following:
a reference unit,
an adjustable reference unit,
a shared reference potential, and
a second contact, wherein the second contact is a junction between the substrate and the system in which the substrate is embedded or to which the substrate is electrically connected.

22. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the method is run at least once during at least one of the following stages:
during a manufacturing process of a semiconductor of the electronic device;
during a manufacturing process of a semiconductor of the electronic device before or after a stress injection like a burn in;
during operation of the electronic device;
in regular or non-regular cycles during operation of the electronic device;
during a system level test of the electronic device; and
during a system level test as part of a power down sequence of the electronic device.

23. A method for monitoring a power supply of an electronic device, comprising:
determining a first comparison result by comparing a gradual change of a voltage at a first contact over

Assignees

• Infineon Technologies Ag

Inventors

• Barrenscheen Jens
• Mcconnell Roderick
• Ossimitz Peter

Classifications

• H02H7/22

  for distribution gear, e.g. bus-bar systems; for switching devices {(detecting mechanical or electrical defects in gas-insulated switchgears H02B13/065)} · CPC title

• G06F1/28

  Supervision thereof, e.g. detecting power-supply failure by out of limits supervision · CPC title

• G01R19/16552

  in I.C. power supplies · CPC title

• G01R31/40 Primary

  Testing power supplies (testing photovoltaic devices H02S50/10) · CPC title