Smart electronic switch

Abstract

An integrated circuit may include a power transistor coupled between a supply pin and an output pin; a current sensing circuit configured to sense a load current passing through the power transistor and to provide a respective current sense signal; a first configuration pin; a current output circuit configured to provide a diagnosis current at a current output pin; a diagnosis pin for receiving a diagnosis request signal; and a control circuit configured to: select a characteristic curve representing a current versus time characteristic dependent on a external circuit connected to the first configuration pin; generate a drive signal for the power transistor dependent on the selected characteristic curve and the current sense signal; and control—dependent on a pulse pattern of the diagnosis request signal—the current output circuit to set the value of the diagnosis current such that it represents the load current or the selected characteristic curve.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.