Current sensing in non-CMOS semiconductor technology for power conversion applications
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsNachiket Desai, Harish K. Krishnamurthy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments herein relate to a current sensor for a power converter such as a buck converter. The power converter is fabricated on a high bandgap semiconductor die while the current sensor includes a portion on the same die and a portion on a silicon die. The portion on the same die includes a sense transistor, while the portion on the silicon die includes a feedback circuit for controlling a voltage of the sense transistor to ensure it is biased according to the bias of a switching transistor of the power converter. A current of the sense transistor can then be processed such as by an averaging or sampling process.
Claims19
An apparatus, comprising:
- a power converter on a compound semiconductor die, the power converter comprises a switching transistor;
- and
- a current sensor comprising a first portion on the compound semiconductor die and a second portion on a silicon die, wherein the first portion comprises a sense transistor, and the second portion comprises an amplifier to control a current of the sense transistor based on a comparison of a voltage of the sense transistor to a voltage of the switching transistor, wherein the compound semiconductor die has a bandgap greater than a bandgap of the silicon die,
- wherein:
- the sense transistor is coupled to an inverting input of the amplifier;
- and the switching transistor is coupled to a non-inverting input of the amplifier.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a first die comprising a power converter and a first sense transistor, wherein the first die has a bandgap greater than a bandgap of silicon;
- and
- a silicon die comprising:
- a first amplifier and a first control transistor, wherein the silicon die has a first interface to couple a non-inverting input of the first amplifier to a first node of the power converter;
- a second interface to couple an inverting input of the first amplifier to the first sense transistor;
- a third interface to couple the first control transistor to the first sense transistor, wherein the first amplifier, to modulate a voltage of the first sense transistor, is to modulate a control gate voltage of the first control transistor based on a voltage of the first node;
- and
- a current processing circuit to process a current of the first sense transistor.
A sense circuit, comprising:
- a sense transistor;
- a control transistor coupled to the sense circuit;
- an amplifier having an output coupled to the control transistor, a non-inverting input to couple to a switching node of a power converter and an inverting input to couple to the sense transistor;
- and
- a current processing circuit coupled to the control transistor, the current processing circuit is to provide an output which is representative of a current of the switching node, wherein:
- the amplifier, control transistor and current processing circuit are on a silicon die;
- and
- the power converter is on a die having a bandgap greater than a bandgap of the silicon die.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.