Half-bridge circuit
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorsTjaco Middel, Stephanus Van Den Elshout
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A half-bridge circuit including a low-side drive module (110) and a high-side drive module (210) for driving respective lower (T1) and upper (T2) transistors. Each drive module (110, 210) is a charge trap circuit in that the low-side drive module (110) drives the low-side transistor (T1) with the charge on a capacitive load (C), and the high-side drive module (210) alternately recharges the capacitive load (C) as it is driven by a high-voltage supply. Each charge trap circuit (110, 210) also includes a diode (D1, D2) that prevents unintentional loss of charge on a gate of a driven transistor (T1, T2), and a zener diode (Z1, Z2) that clamps the gate voltage at a safe level. In this manner, the half-bridge circuit is efficiently driven without the need of an auxiliary power supply.
Claims10
A half-bridge circuit, comprising:
- an upper transistor (T2) having a source connected to an output terminal (120), and a drain connected to a rail (130) for application of a high direct voltage;
- a lower transistor (T1) having a source connected to a rail (140) for application of a low direct voltage, and a drain connected to the output terminal (120);
- an upper transistor control circuit (HS) for driving the upper transistor (T2) by applying a signal to a control terminal of the upper transistor (T1);
- and
- a lower transistor control circuit (110) for driving the lower transistor (T1) by applying a signal to a control terminal of the lower transistor (T1), the lower transistor control circuit (110) comprising:
- a third transistor (T3) having a drain connected to the output terminal (120), and a source connected to an anode of a diode (D1), a cathode of the diode (D1) being connected to the control terminal of the lower transistor (T1);
- and
- a fourth transistor (T4) having a drain connected to the control terminal of the lower transistor (T1), and a source connected to the rail (140) for application of a low direct voltage.
A half-bridge circuit, comprising:
- an upper transistor (T2) having a source connected to an output terminal (120), and a drain connected to a rail (130) for application of a high direct voltage;
- a lower transistor (T1) having a source connected to a rail (140) for application of a low direct voltage, and a drain connected to the output terminal (120);
- a lower transistor control circuit (250) for driving the lower transistor (T1) by applying a signal to a control terminal of the lower transistor (T1);
- and
- an upper transistor control circuit (210) for driving the upper transistor (T2) by applying a signal to a control terminal of the upper transistor (T2), the upper transistor control circuit (210) comprising:
- a third transistor (T5) having a drain connected to the control terminal of the upper transistor (T2), and a source connected to the rail (140) for application of the low direct voltage;
- and
- a fourth transistor (T6) having a drain connected to the rail (130) for application of the high direct voltage, and a source connected to an anode of a diode (D2), a cathode of the diode (D2) being connected to the control terminal of the upper transistor (T2).
A half-bridge circuit, comprising:
- an upper transistor (T2) having a source connected to an output terminal (120), and a drain connected to a rail (130) for application of a high direct voltage;
- a lower transistor (T1) having a source connected to a rail (140) for application of a low direct voltage, and a drain connected to the output terminal (120);
- a lower transistor control circuit (110) for driving the lower transistor (T1) by applying a signal to a control terminal of the lower transistor (T1);
- and
- an upper transistor control circuit (210) for driving the upper transistor (T2) by applying a signal to a control terminal of the upper transistor (T2);
- wherein the lower transistor control circuit (110) comprises:
- a third transistor (T3) having a drain connected to the output terminal (120), and a source connected to an anode of a diode (D1), a cathode of the diode (D1) being connected to the control terminal of the lower transistor (T1);
- and
- a fourth transistor (T4) having a drain connected to the control terminal of the lower transistor (T1), and a source connected to the rail (140) for application of the low direct voltage;
- and
- wherein the upper transistor control circuit (210) comprises:
- a fifth transistor (T5) having a drain connected to the control terminal of the upper transistor (T2), and a source connected to the rail (140) for application of the low direct voltage;
- and
- a sixth transistor (T6) having a drain connected to the rail (130) for application of the high direct voltage, and a source connected to an anode of a second diode (D2), a cathode of the second diode (D2) being connected to the control terminal of the upper transistor (T2).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.