Circuit having a power transistor and a drive circuit

An integrated circuit comprising:

• a power transistor with a drive terminal and with a load path, the power transistor being integrated in a first semiconductor body;
• a sensor transistor integrated in the first semiconductor body and having a load path between a drain terminal and a source terminal, and a gate terminal connected to the drain terminal;
• an evaluation circuit having only two connections to the sensor transistor, a first connection to the drain terminal and a second connection to the source terminal of the sensor transistor so that the evaluation circuit receives a load path voltage across the drain and source terminals of the sensor transistor corresponding to a threshold voltage of the sensor transistor and is configured to provide a first sensor signal dependent on the load path voltage;
• and
• a drive circuit to which the first sensor signal is supplied and that is configured to drive the power transistor via its drive terminal as a function of the first sensor signal;
• wherein the power transistor and the sensor transistor are produced by substantially the same processes so that the threshold voltage of the sensor transistor corresponds to a threshold voltage of the power transistor.

An integrated circuit comprising:

• a power transistor with a drive terminal and with a load path, the power transistor being integrated in a first semiconductor body;
• a sensor transistor integrated in the first semiconductor body and having a drain terminal, a source terminal, and a gate terminal connected to the drain terminal;
• an evaluation circuit having only two connections to the sensor transistor, a first connection to the drain terminal and a second connection to the source terminal of the sensor transistor so that the evaluation circuit receives a drain to source voltage of the sensor transistor corresponding to a threshold voltage of the sensor transistor and is configured to provide a first sensor signal dependent on the drain to source voltage;
• a drive circuit to which the first sensor signal is supplied and that is configured to drive the power transistor via its drive terminal as a function of the first sensor signal;
• and
• means integrated in the first semiconductor body for producing a second sensor signal dependent on a temperature in the first semiconductor body, the second sensor signal being supplied to and driving the drive circuit as a function of the second sensor signal.

A circuit comprising:

• a power transistor with a drive terminal and with a load path, the power transistor being integrated in a first semiconductor body;
• a first sensor arrangement having a sensor transistor integrated in the first semiconductor body, and having an evaluation circuit connected to only a source terminal and a drain terminal of the sensor transistor so as to receive a voltage across the source and drain terminals corresponding to a threshold voltage of the sensor transistor and providing a first sensor signal dependent on the threshold voltage of the sensor transistor;
• and
• a drive circuit to which the first sensor signal is supplied and that is configured to drive the power transistor via its drive terminal as a function of the first sensor signal.

A circuit comprising:

• a power transistor with a drive terminal and with a load path, the power transistor being integrated in a first semiconductor body;
• a first sensor arrangement having a sensor transistor integrated in the first semiconductor body, and having an evaluation circuit connected to a source to only a source terminal and a drain terminal of the sensor transistor, the evaluation circuit receiving a first voltage across the source and drain terminals of the sensor transistor corresponding to a threshold voltage of the sensor transistor and providing a first sensor signal dependent on the first voltage which corresponds to the threshold voltage of the sensor transistor;
• and
• a drive circuit to which the first sensor signal is supplied and that is configured to drive the power transistor via its drive terminal as a function of the first sensor signal, the drive circuit configured to adjust a switching speed of the power transistor based on the first sensor signal.

A circuit comprising:

• a power transistor of a transistor type integrated in a first semiconductor body and having a gate terminal;
• a sensor arrangement including a sensor transistor and an evaluation circuit, the sensor transistor being of the same transistor type as the power transistor and integrated in the first semiconductor body and having a load path between a drain terminal and a source terminal and a gate terminal connected to the drain terminal, wherein the evaluation circuit is connected only to the source terminal and to the drain terminal of the sensor transistor, wherein the evaluation circuit includes a current source configured to impress a current flow through the load path of the sensor transistor that results in a load path voltage between the drain and source terminals of the sensor transistor which corresponds to a threshold voltage of the sensor transistor and to a threshold voltage of the power transistor, and wherein the evaluation circuit provides a sensor signal dependent on the load path voltage of the sensor transistor;
• and
• a drive circuit configured to drive the gate terminal of the power transistor based on the sensor signal.