Method for calculating the temperature rise profile of a power MOSFET

Abstract

A computer program for calculating temperature rise profiles of a power MOSFET for different current waveforms, either single waveforms or multiple waveforms. The user enters the device part number identifying the device, the device Rdson at maximum temperature, and various calculation data, such as the calculation resolution and thermal resistance coordinates. The user also selects the desired current waveform from a library of waveforms. The program then calculates thermal resistance constants for the device as a function of time, and generates an array of thermal resistance values for each waveform subdivision based on the calculation resolution chosen. The instantaneous power values at each current/time subdivision are then calculated by the program and an array of power X thermal resistance difference terms is generated for each time interval. These terms are then summed to generate the temperature rise profile, and the results are displayed graphically or textually.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.