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US 10,379,070 B2Granted
Power module
AssigneeMitsubishi Electric Corporation
InventorsShuta Ishikawa, Teruaki Tanaka
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An A/D converter converts an output from a temperature sensor into a digital signal. A service life diagnostic unit diagnoses a service life of a power module based on a signal indicating a temperature outputted from the A/D converter. An output unit generates a signal representing a diagnostic result and outputs the generated signal from an output terminal to outside.
Claims19
A power module, comprising:
- a plurality of semiconductor chips;
- one or more temperature sensor provided in a periphery of at least one semiconductor chip of said plurality of semiconductor chips;
- one A/D converter which converts an output from said temperature sensor into a digital signal;
- a diagnostic unit which diagnoses a service life of said power module based on a signal indicating a temperature outputted from said A/D converter;
- an output unit which generates a signal representing a diagnostic result;
- and
- an output terminal which outputs a signal representing said diagnostic result to outside,
- said diagnostic unit calculating a deterioration degree of said semiconductor chip per power cycle from a service life characteristic in a power cycle of said semiconductor chip, and calculating a sum total of deterioration degrees of a plurality of power cycles as a deterioration amount,
- said diagnostic unit calculating a deterioration degree of said semiconductor chip based on a maximum temperature, a minimum temperature, and a difference between said maximum temperature and said minimum temperature in one power cycle detected by said temperature sensor,
- said output unit outputting the signal representing said diagnostic result to an outside controller through the output terminal, and
- said outside controller controlling said plurality of semiconductor chips based on said diagnostic result.
8 more elements
A power module, comprising:
- a plurality of semiconductor chips;
- one or more temperature sensor provided in a periphery of at least one semiconductor chip of the plurality of semiconductor chips;
- one A/D converter which converts an output from the temperature sensor into a digital signal;
- circuitry configured to
- diagnose a service life of the power module based on a signal indicating a temperature outputted from the A/D converter, and
- generate a signal representing a diagnostic result;
- and
- an output terminal which outputs a signal representing the diagnostic result to outside, wherein
- the circuitry is further configured to
- calculate a deterioration degree of the semiconductor chip per power cycle from a service life characteristic in a power cycle of the semiconductor chip, and calculate a sum total of deterioration degrees of a plurality of power cycles as a deterioration amount, and
- calculate a deterioration degree of the semiconductor Chip based on a maximum temperature, a minimum temperature, and a difference between the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature in one power cycle detected by the temperature sensor.
8 more elements
A diagnostic method of a power module, the power module including
- a plurality of semiconductor chips,
- one or more temperature sensor provided in a periphery of at least one semiconductor chip of said plurality of semiconductor chips,
- one A/D converter which converts an output from said temperature sensor into a digital signal,
- a diagnostic unit which diagnoses a service life of said power module based on a signal indicating a temperature outputted from said A/D converter,
- an output unit which generates a signal representing a diagnostic result, and
- an output terminal which outputs a signal representing said diagnostic result to outside,
- the diagnostic method comprising:
- calculating a deterioration degree of said semiconductor chip per power cycle from a service life characteristic in a power cycle of said semiconductor chip, and calculating a sum total of deterioration degrees of a plurality of power cycles as a deterioration amount by said diagnostic unit;
- and
- calculating a deterioration degree of said semiconductor chip based on a maximum temperature, a minimum temperature, and a difference between said maximum temperature and said minimum temperature in one power cycle detected by said temperature sensor and diagnosing the deterioration degree of said semiconductor chip by said diagnostic unit.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.