# US 9,520,870 B2 · Systems and methods for pulse width modulated control of a semiconductor switch

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- Number: US 9,520,870 B2
- Document ID: US9520870B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/670,818
- Filed: 2015-03-27
- Published: 2016-09-29
- Granted: 2016-12-13
- Earliest claimed: 2015-03-27
- Assignees: Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC; Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH
- Applicants: Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC; Conti Temic Microelectronic GmbH
- Inventors: Robert H. Fugere; Andrew Talan; Daniel P. Connolly; Uli Joos; Norbert Stuhler
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9520870B2

## CPC

- H03K 17/165: {by feedback from the output circuit to the control circuit}
- H03K 17/14: Modifications for compensating variations of physical values, e.g. of temperature
- H03K 17/166: {Soft switching}
- H03K 17/18: Modifications for indicating state of switch
- H03K 19/1733: {Controllable logic circuits (H03K19/177 takes precedence)}
- H03K 2217/0063: High side switches, i.e. the higher potential [DC] or life wire [AC] being directly connected to the switch and not via the load
- H03K: PULSE TECHNIQUE (measuring pulse characteristics G01R; modulating sinusoidal oscillations with pulses H03C; transmission of digital information H04L; discriminator circuits detecting phase difference between two signals by counting or integrating cycles of oscillation H03D3/04; automatic control, starting, synchronisation or stabilisation of generators of electronic oscillations or pulses where the type of generator is irrelevant or unspecified H03L; coding, decoding or code conversion, in general H03M)

## Abstract

Pulse width modulated controller systems. Implementations may include: a microcontroller coupled with a memory, a switch controller coupled with the microcontroller, and a calibration unit. The calibration unit may include one or more comparators, one or more passive electrical components, and an encoder logic all operatively coupled together and coupled with the microcontroller and with the switch controller where the at least one comparator and the one or more passive electrical components are electrically coupled with a supply voltage to the semiconductor switch and with a load voltage (output voltage) from the semiconductor switch.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A pulse width modulated controller system for a semiconductor switch, the system comprising:
a microcontroller coupled with a memory;
a switch controller coupled with the microcontroller; and
a calibration unit, the calibration unit comprising:
at least two comparators, one or more passive electrical components, and an encoder logic all operatively coupled together and coupled with the microcontroller and with the switch controller;
wherein the microcontroller is configured to send a calibration trigger signal to the encoder logic of the calibration unit, and, in response, the calibration unit is configured to:
using a first one of the at least two comparators, generate a first comparator output for a switching-on operation of the semiconductor switch;
using a second one of the at least two comparators, generate a second comparator output for a switching-off operation of the semiconductor switch;
generate a status signal using the encoder logic using one of the first comparator output, the second comparator output, and both the first comparator output and the second comparator output; and
send the status signal to the microcontroller;
wherein the one or more comparators and the one or more passive electrical components are electrically coupled with a supply voltage to the semiconductor switch and with an output voltage from the semiconductor switch;
wherein the memory coupled to the microcontroller comprises a digitally stored model comprising one or more control parameters for generating a control signal for the semiconductor switch; and
wherein the microcontroller is configured to receive one or more operating condition parameters, and, using one or more operating condition parameters and the digitally stored model, to generate control parameters for generating the control signal for the semiconductor switch.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the switch controller comprises a control logic and a memory operatively coupled together and operatively coupled with the semiconductor switch.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the memory coupled to the microcontroller comprises a look-up table comprising one or more model parameters for use by the microcontroller to calculate one or more control parameters for generating a control signal for the semiconductor switch.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller is further configured to, in response to receiving the status signal, adjust one or more of the one or more control parameters of the digital model stored in the memory coupled to the microcontroller.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller is configured to generate the calibration trigger signal on a predetermined time interval.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller is configured to generate the calibration trigger signal after analyzing one of a current value of one or more operating condition parameters and a development of values of one or more operating condition parameters over a period of time.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the microcontroller is not configured to generate the calibration trigger signal after each switching operation of the semiconductor switch.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the switch controller further comprises a serial peripheral interface (SPI), a gate driver, and a charge pump unit all operatively coupled together and operatively coupled with the semiconductor switch.

### Claim 9

A pulse width modulated controller system for a semiconductor switch, the system comprising:
a microcontroller coupled with a memory, the memory comprising a look-up table comprising one or more model parameters;
a switch controller coupled with the microcontroller and with a semiconductor switch, the switch controller comprising a control logic;
a calibration unit, the calibration unit comprising:
at least two or more comparators, one or more passive electrical components, and an encoder logic all operatively coupled together and coupled with the microcontroller and with the switch controller;
wherein the microcontroller is configured to send a calibration trigger signal to the encoder logic of the calibration unit, and, in response, the calibration unit is configured to:
using a first one of the two or more comparators, generate a first comparator output for a switching-on operation of the semiconductor switch;
using a second one of the two or more comparators, generate a second comparator output for a switching-off operation of the semiconductor switch;
generate a status signal using the encoder logic using one of the first comparator output, the second comparator output, and both the first comparator output and the second comparator output; and
send the status signal to the microcontroller;
wherein the one or more comparators and the one or more passive electrical components are electrically coupled with a supply voltage to the semiconductor switch and with a load voltage from the semiconductor switch; and
wherein the microcontroller is configured to receive one or more operating condition parameters, and, using one or more operating condition parameters and the look-up table, to generate control parameters for generating the control signal for the semiconductor switch.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the microcontroller is further configured to, in response to receiving the status signal, change one or more of the one or more model parameters comprised in the look-up table stored in the memory coupled to the microcontroller.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the microcontroller is configured to generate the calibration trigger signal on a predetermined time interval.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the microcontroller is configured to generate the calibration trigger signal after analyzing one of a current value of the one or more operating condition parameters and a development of values of the one or more operating condition parameters over a period of time.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the microcontroller is not configured to generate the calibration trigger signal after each switching operation of the semiconductor switch.

### Claim 14

A method of controlling a semiconductor switch, the method comprising:
storing one or more model parameters in a look-up table comprised in memory coupled with a control logic and with a microcontroller;
receiving one or more operating condition parameters using the microcontroller;
in response to receiving one or more operating condition parameters, retrieving one or more of the one or more model parameters in the look-up table and generating one or more control parameters using the microcontroller and using the one or more operating condition parameters;
generating a control signal for a semiconductor switch using the one or more control parameters and the control logic;
providing a calibration trigger signal to a calibration unit using the microcontroller;
in response to receiving the calibration trigger signal, evaluating a switching-on operation of the semiconductor switch using one or more comparators and one or more passive electrical components comprised in a calibration unit coupled with the microcontroller by generating a switching-on output through comparing a value of an output voltage from the semiconductor switch with a predetermined switching-on voltage;
in response to receiving the calibration trigger signal, evaluating a switching-off operation of the semiconductor switch using the one or more comparators and the one or more passive electrical components comprised in the calibration unit coupled with the microcontroller by generating a switching-off output through comparing a value of the output voltage from the semiconductor switch with a predetermined switching-off voltage;
using an encoder logic comprised in a calibration unit coupled with the microcontroller to generate a status signal using one of the switching-on output, the switching-off output, and both the switching-on output and the switching-off output;
sending the status signal to the microcontroller;
in response to receiving the status signal, evaluating whether the data representing the output voltage in the status signal is outside a predetermined voltage window using the microprocessor; and
if the output voltage is outside the predetermined voltage window, changing one or more of the one or more model parameters comprised in the look-up table comprised in the memory coupled to the microcontroller using the microcontroller in response to receiving the calibration signal.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14, wherein the microcontroller is configured to provide the calibration trigger signal after analyzing one of a current value of the one or more operating condition parameters and a development of values of the one or more operating condition parameters over a period of time.

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14, wherein the microcontroller is not configured to provide the calibration trigger signal after each switching operation of the semiconductor switch.