Switch Device for an Electric Motor, Control Device and Steering System

A control device for an electric motor, comprising:

• a plurality of electrical phases, each of the plurality of electrical phases including:
• a switch device for each of the phases of the electric motor, the switch device having:
• at least one half-bridge having two semiconductor switches configured to energize at least one phase of the electric motor on demand;
• and
• a driver device assigned to the two semiconductor switches and configured to actuate the two semiconductor switches in accordance with an activation signal, the driver device including (i) an oscillator configured to generate an operating clock frequency, (ii) an apparatus configured to receive a synchronization signal, and (iii) an adjustment device configured to adjust the operating clock frequency in accordance with the synchronization signal;
• and
• at least one control unit configured both to generate the activation signal and to feed the activation signal to at least one of the switch devices and to generate at least one synchronization signal and to feed the at least one sync signal to each of the switch devices.

A method for operating a control device for an electric motor having a plurality of phases, wherein one switch device is present for each of the phases of the electric motor, the method comprising:

• generating, on the one hand, an activation signal;
• feeding the generated activation signal to at least one of the switch devices;
• and generating, on the other hand at least one synchronization signal;
• and
• feeding the generated at least one sync signal to each of the switch devices.