High efficiency high frequency resonant gate driver for power converter
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electroanics N.V.
InventorJinrong Qian
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A driver circuit for a high frequency switching circuit such as a converter for a gas discharge lamp includes a resonant circuit which transfers energy from the parasitic input capacitance of one or more power switching devices during switching of the latter. The energy transfer prevents dissipation of the capacative energy in the driver circuit which may otherwise destroy one or more components of the driver circuit. The resonant circuit includes a discrete inductor in the driver circuit. Preferably, one or more discrete capacitors are also included within the driver circuit to maintain resonance at a given frequency regardless parasitic capacitance variation.
Claims15
A driver circuit for a switching circuit having at least one power switching device which has a parasitic input capacitance, comprising:
- a signal generator providing a high frequency driving signal;
- a first switching device coupled to the signal generator for receiving the high frequency driving signal and driving the at least one power switching device;
- a resonant circuit operably coupled in series with a power source and the first switching device and to the at least one power switching device, which includes as part thereof the parasitic input capacitance of the at least one power switching device, wherein the resonant circuit transfers energy from the parasitic input capacitance during turn off of the at least one power switching device and transfers energy to the at least one power switching device during turn on of the at least one power switching device.
A driver circuit comprising:
- a signal generator,
- a switching device, operably coupled to the signal generator, that is configured to receive a switching control signal from the signal generator,
- an inductive device that is connected in series between a power source and the switching device, such that current flows through the inductive device when the switching device is placed in a conducting state, and
- at least one power switching device, operably coupled to the inductive device, that has a parasitic input capacitance;
- wherein
- the parasitic input capacitance and the inductive device are each a part of a common resonant circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.