Smart electronic switch

Abstract

An integrated circuit that may be employed as a smart switch is described herein. The integrated circuit may include a first power transistor coupled between a supply pin and a first output pin and a second power transistor coupled between the supply pin and a second output pin. The first and the second power transistors each having an intrinsic body diode which allows reverse conduction. The integrated circuit further includes a control circuit that is configured to trigger a switch-on and switch-off of the first and the second power transistors based on a first input signal and a second input signal, respectively. Furthermore, the integrated circuit includes a protection circuit configured to detect, for the first and the second power transistors, a transition from a reverse conducting state into a forward conducting state, and vice versa, and to generate an error signal in response to certain detections.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.