Integrated power module diagnostic unit
First Claim
1. An integrated power module for driving a load device in a motor vehicle comprising:
- a gate driver including at least one gate voltage circuit;
at least one power driver driven by said at least one gate voltage circuit;
at least one protector including a detector circuit for generating a signal in response to a temperature reading indicative of physical condition of said power driver; and
, a diagnostic monitor for analyzing the temperature reading in respect to past temperature readings to determine the level of physical degradation of said power driver over time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An integrated power module combining drivers and power devices includes a diagnosis module integrated with or connected to the integrated power module. That includes protectors. The protectors provides protection against power device failure, transistor stack failure, gate drive failure, power failure, and other conditions. In a first level of diagnosis and protection, a gate driver is responsive to hard faults, such as short circuit and under voltage conditions, to disenable the power devices, for example, switching transistors of an inverter. In addition, the first level of protection includes soft faults, such as detection of overcurrent and over temperature in the power device, conditions that are merely reported to the controller, whereby the number and frequency of the events can be monitored. The second level of protection also provided by the diagnostic module may include power interlock to ensure that full power is being delivered to the integrated power module. The system permits detection of a transistor stack failure by monitoring the thermal resistance of the stack layers or junctions to detect physical degradation of the junctions and determine when the level of deterioration exceeds a pre-determined level. In addition, a power cycling failure diagnosis determines the integrity of the wirebonds, for example, wirebonds joining a silicon die to appropriate metal land patterns, as well as the integrity of stack junctions.
75 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An integrated power module for driving a load device in a motor vehicle comprising:
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a gate driver including at least one gate voltage circuit; at least one power driver driven by said at least one gate voltage circuit; at least one protector including a detector circuit for generating a signal in response to a temperature reading indicative of physical condition of said power driver; and
, a diagnostic monitor for analyzing the temperature reading in respect to past temperature readings to determine the level of physical degradation of said power driver over time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A power device drive system with condition diagnostic protection comprising:
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a controller; a diagnostic module interfacing with said controller via address lines and data lines including status lines; an integrated power module having a gate driver with a first level protection circuit, and a power device for driving a load; wherein said gate driver and said first level protection circuit interface with said system protection and diagnostic module; and wherein said first level protection circuit comprises a detector for signaling a response to a sensed fault related to physical degradation, wherein said diagnostic module periodically accumulates a representative value of response and determines when said signaling response is at a repetition or time-based level above a repetition or time-based threshold level at said power device. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of diagnosing an integrated power module including uncovering possible failure such as power device failure, transistor stack failure, gate driver failure, power failure and erroneous input commands, including the steps of:
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using a gate driver section and a device level protection circuit for providing a first level of protection against short circuit, over current, over temperature and under voltage conditions, by sensing such conditions in the power module, disabling the power devices coupled to the protection circuit in response to a detection of a predetermined level of sensed condition, and reporting the status to a controller; and using a diagnostic module as a second level of protection to analyze said sensed condition by periodically storing accumulating data and a time stamp of recording for comparison with a threshold value and generating at least one of a status signal and a command signal to at least one of said controller and said driver, respectively.
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Specification