Distributed control pole clamp circuit for gate driver

• US 10,148,266 B1
• Filed: 06/29/2017
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: White, Paul M., Spiteri, Stephen M., Smith, Thomas L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hernandez, William
• Application Number:
  US15/637,813
• Time in Patent Office: 523 Days
• Field of Search: 327108, 327109, 327306, 327309, 327310, 327311, 327312, 327317, 327318, 327323, 327365, 327379, 327382, 327403, 327404, 327405, 327419, 327427, 327432, 327434, 327478, 327574, 327581
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/161 in field-effect transistor switches
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/162 without feedback from the output circuit to the control circuit
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 17/6871 the output circuit comprising more than one controlled field-effect transistor
• CPC Class Codes: H03K 2217/0009 AC switches, i.e. delivering AC power to a load

Abstract

A switching circuit for controlling supply of electrical power from a power pole input to a power pole output.

Claims

1. A switching circuit for controlling supply of electrical power from a power pole input to a power pole output, comprising:

a plurality of transistors connected in parallel between the power pole input and the power pole output to control supply of electrical power from the power pole input to the power pole output, each transistor having a control pole, a positive power pole connected to the power pole input, and a negative power pole connected to the power pole output;

a gate drive circuit connected to the control poles of the transistors for supplying one or more gate commands to the transistors for causing turn-on and turn-off of the transistors; and

a plurality of switching devices each connected to the control pole of a respective one of the transistors for clamping a control pole voltage of the respective transistor, wherein the switching devices are configured to clamp the control pole voltage of the respective transistor when a feedback signal is less than a threshold signal and the switching devices are configured to forgo clamping when the feedback signal is greater than the threshold signal.

2. The switching circuit of claim 1, wherein the feedback signal is dependent on voltage from the control poles of the transistors.

3. The switching circuit of claim 2, further comprising:

a feedback circuit for providing the feedback signal from the transistors, wherein the feedback circuit is connected to the control pole of each of the transistors.

4. The switching circuit of claim 3, wherein the feedback circuit sets the feedback signal to a highest voltage from the control poles of the transistors.

5. The switching circuit of claim 4, wherein the feedback circuit includes feedback diodes that are each associated with the control pole of a respective one of the transistors.

6. The switching circuit of claim 5, wherein the feedback diodes are arranged in parallel with one another.

7. The switching circuit of claim 6, wherein the feedback circuit includes a filter.

8. The switching circuit of claim 1, further comprising:

a comparator for comparing the feedback signal to the threshold signal.

9. The switching circuit of claim 8, wherein the comparator changes between an enabled state and a disabled state in response to the one or more gate commands.

10. The switching circuit of claim 9, further comprising:

a threshold voltage source connected to the comparator for providing the threshold signal.

11. The switching circuit of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one of a resistor or a capacitor connected between the one or more gate commands and the feedback signal.

12. The switching circuit of claim 11, further comprising:

a hot-start diode for advance biasing an input voltage for the switching devices.

13. The switching circuit of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of split-gate resistors each connected to the control pole of a respective one of the transistors to damp a resonant path between the control poles of the transistors.

14. The switching circuit of claim 13, wherein the split-gate resistors are arranged in parallel with each other.

15. The switching circuit of claim 14, further comprising:

one or more shared-gate resistors connected in series with the split-gate resistors.

16. The switching circuit of claim 15, wherein the one or more shared-gate resistors are connected between the gate drive circuit and the split-gate resistors.

17. The switching circuit of claim 1, wherein the gate drive circuit further comprises:

a gate drive controller that generates the one or more gate commands, and an amplifier that amplifies the one or more gate commands.

18. The switching circuit of claim 1, further comprising:

an inductance applied at each of the control poles to reduce oscillations.

19. A switching circuit for controlling supply of electrical power from a power pole input to a power pole output, comprising:

a plurality of transistors connected in parallel between the power pole input and the power pole output to control supply of electrical power from the power pole input to the power pole output, each transistor having a control pole, a positive power pole connected to the power pole input, and a negative power pole connected to the power pole output;

a gate drive circuit connected to the control poles of the transistors for supplying one or more gate commands to the transistors for causing turn-on and turn-off of the transistors;

a plurality of switching devices each connected to the control pole of a respective one of the transistors for clamping a control pole voltage of the respective transistor, wherein the switching devices are configured to clamp the control pole voltage of the respective transistor when a feedback signal is less than a threshold signal and the switching devices are configured to forgo clamping when the feedback signal is greater than the threshold signal;

split gate resistors each connected to the control pole of a respective one of the transistors to damp a resonant path between the control poles of the transistors, wherein the split gate resistors are arranged in parallel with each other; and

one or more shared gate resistors connected in series with the split gate resistors.

20. A switching circuit for controlling supply of electrical power from a power pole input to a power pole output, comprising:

a first transistor and a second transistor connected in parallel between the power pole input and the power pole output to control supply of electrical power from the power pole input to the power pole output;

a gate drive circuit connected to the first transistor and the second transistor for causing turn-on and turn-off of the first transistor and the second transistor;

a first switching device connected to the first transistor and a second switching device connected to the second transistor to apply clamping to the first transistor and the second transistor when a feedback signal is greater than a threshold; and

a feedback circuit that sets the feedback signal to the highest of a first control voltage of the first transistor or a second control voltage of the second transistor from the control poles of the transistors.