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US 8,985,850 B1Granted
Adaptive gate driver strength control
AssigneeCypress Semiconductor Corporation
InventorsKedar Godbole, Hariom Rai, Anita Meng
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An adaptive algorithm running on a processing device receives a temperature value that represents a temperature at a gate terminal of a transistor. The adaptive algorithm, determines a drive strength value that represents a drive strength for a signal based on the temperature value. A signal with the determined drive strength is applied to the gate terminal of the transistor.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- receiving, at a processing system, a temperature value that represents a temperature at a gate terminal of a first transistor;
- determining, by a processor of the processing system, a drive strength value based on the temperature value, wherein the drive strength value comprises a digital value indicating a drive strength for a drive signal to be applied to the gate terminal of the first transistor, wherein the drive strength for the drive signal is directly proportional to the temperature;
- adjusting the drive strength of the drive signal, by a variable strength gate driver circuit coupled to the processing system and the first transistor, based on the determined drive strength value, wherein adjusting the drive strength of the drive signal comprises selecting one or more second transistors, which is different from the first transistor, in the variable strength gate driver circuit to at least one of charge or discharge the gate terminal of the first transistor, wherein the selected one or more second transistors control a speed at which the gate terminal of the first transistor is charged or discharged;
- and
- applying the drive signal with the adjusted drive strength to the gate terminal of the first transistor.
2 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a first transistor comprising a gate terminal;
- a processing system comprising a processor unit, wherein the processing system comprises a machine readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processor unit, cause the processing system to:
- receive a temperature value that represents a temperature at the gate terminal of the first transistor, and
- determine a drive strength value that represents a drive strength for the signal based on the temperature value, wherein the drive strength value comprises a digital value indicating a drive strength for a drive signal to be applied to the gate terminal of the first transistor, wherein the drive strength for the drive signal is directly proportional to the temperature;
- and
- a variable strength gate driver circuit coupled to the processing system and the first transistor and configured to supply a drive signal to the gate terminal of the first transistor, the signal to control a speed at which the gate terminal of the first transistor is charged or discharged, the variable strength gate driver circuit is further configured to:
- receive the determined drive strength value from the processing system,
- adjust the drive strength value of the drive signal based on the determined drive strength value, wherein adjusting the drive strength of the drive signal comprises selecting one or more second transistors, which is different from the first transistor, in the variable strength gate driver circuit to at least one of charge or discharge the gate terminal of the first transistor, wherein the selected one or more second transistors control a speed at which the gate terminal of the first transistor is charged or discharged, and
- apply the drive signal with the adjusted drive strength to the gate terminal of the first transistor.
6 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature at a gate terminal of a first transistor, the temperature sensor to indicate the temperature with a temperature value;
- a processing system coupled to the temperature sensor, the processing system configured to compare the temperature value to a temperature threshold and determine a drive strength value based on the comparison, wherein the drive strength value comprises a digital value indicating a drive strength for a drive signal to be applied to the gate terminal of the first transistor, wherein the drive strength for the drive signal is directly proportional to the temperature;
- and
- a variable strength gate driver circuit coupled to the processing system and the first transistor, the variable strength gate driver circuit configured to adjust the drive strength of the drive signal based on the determined drive strength value, wherein adjusting the drive strength of the drive signal comprises selecting one or more second transistors, which is different from the first transistor, in the variable strength gate driver circuit to at least one of charge or discharge the gate terminal of the first transistor, wherein the selected one or more second transistors control a speed at which the gate terminal of the first transistor is charged or discharged, and wherein the variable strength gate driver circuit is further configured to apply the drive signal with the adjusted drive strength to the gate terminal of the first transistor.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.