Digital current limiter
First Claim
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1. A digital current limiter, comprising:
- one or more switches, wherein each respective switch is serially coupled to a respective current sensing circuit, and wherein the respective current sensing circuit senses current flowing at the respective switch and responsively produces an indication of a magnitude of the current; and
a digital controller electrically coupled to the respective current sensing circuit, the digital controller configured to receive the indication of the magnitude of the current and control the respective switch according to the magnitude of the current.
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Abstract
A digital current limiter is provided. The digital current limiter includes a microprocessor that is capable of monitoring and controlling multiple current flows concurrently. The microprocessor can be programmed with various current limits and current control functions than can be set and modified in software. In addition, by including a serial communication interface, the current limits and current control functions of the digital current limiter can be modified remotely.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A digital current limiter, comprising:
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one or more switches, wherein each respective switch is serially coupled to a respective current sensing circuit, and wherein the respective current sensing circuit senses current flowing at the respective switch and responsively produces an indication of a magnitude of the current; and
a digital controller electrically coupled to the respective current sensing circuit, the digital controller configured to receive the indication of the magnitude of the current and control the respective switch according to the magnitude of the current. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for controlling current flow, comprising:
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determining a level of a given current flow on a circuit;
comparing the level of the given current flow to a first predetermined level;
(i) if the level of the current flow is greater than the first predetermined level, incrementing a digital counter, comparing the digital counter to a predefined counter value, if the digital counter is equal to the predefined counter value, responsively interrupting the given current flow on the circuit, otherwise, comparing the level of the given current flow to a second predetermined level, if the level of the current flow is greater than the second predetermined level, responsively interrupting the given current flow on the circuit, otherwise, returning to the step of determining the level of the given current flow on a circuit; and
(ii) if the level of the current flow is greater than the first predetermined level, decrementing the digital counter, determining if the digital counter is less than zero, if the digital counter is less than zero, resetting the digital counter and advancing to the step of determining the level of the given current flow on a circuit the digital counter to a predefined counter value, otherwise, returning to the step of determining the level of the given current flow on a circuit the predetermined counter value. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for limiting current to a plurality of circuits, comprising:
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determining at a digital controller whether current through at least one of the plurality of circuits exceeds a predetermined threshold condition; and
upon determining that the threshold condition has been exceeded, pulsing a switch on and off to limit current to the at least one circuit.
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Specification