Method and circuit arrangement with adaptive overload protection for power switching devices

A power circuit overload protection device comprising:

• at least one power semiconductor switch;
• a compensator located in close proximity to said power circuit;
• corrective factors produced by said compensator from measurements of operational parameters of said power circuit;
• dynamic overload thresholds for said at least one power semiconductor switch produced by said compensator and based on said corrective factors;
• and
• said dynamic overload thresholds are usable by a controller to optimally drive said power circuit to avoid component temperature overload.

A power circuit overload protection device comprising:

• a characteristics field containing compensated real-time values of operational parameters of said power circuit;
• said characteristics field effective to provide dynamic overload thresholds for components of said power circuit;
• and
• said dynamic overload thresholds are compared to thermal model thresholds for said components, whereby dynamic thermal overload protection is provided for said components in said power circuit.

A method for providing dynamic thermal overload protection for a power circuit component, comprising the steps:

• measuring operational parameter values of said power circuit component;
• modifying said operational parameter values to provide compensated values;
• multiplying said compensated values associated with power losses to provide a per switch measure of power losses;
• multiplying said compensated values associated with switching losses to provide a per switch measure of switching losses;
• combining said per switch measure of power losses with said per switch measure of switching losses to provide a total load of said power circuit component;
• comparing said total load with a maximum load for said power circuit component to provide a load capacity;
• and
• communicating said load capacity to a controller, whereby said power circuit component can be driven to prevent thermal overload.