Patents Examined by Harry Behm
  • Patent number: 9941780
    Abstract: A power converting apparatus includes a rectifier converting alternating-current power from an alternating-current power supply into direct-current power; a short-circuit unit short-circuiting the alternating-current power supply via a reactor; and a controlling unit controlling the short-circuit unit in a half cycle of the alternating-current power supply. A correction amount using inductance of the reactor is set in the controlling unit, and the controlling unit changes, using at least a detection value of a power supply current and the correction amount, an ON time and an OFF time of a plurality of switching pulses, and controls, using changed switching pulses, an ON/OFF operation of the short-circuit unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yuji Takayama, Takashi Yamakawa, Koichi Arisawa, Shigeo Umehara, Tomomi Higashikawa, Makoto Tanikawa
  • Patent number: 9929649
    Abstract: A pulse width modulated power converter is presented with load-adaptive power transistor scaling scheme using analog-digital hybrid control. The coarse digital control generates an approximate duty cycle necessary for driving a given load and selects an appropriate width of power transistors to minimize redundant power dissipation. The fine analog control provides the final tuning of the duty cycle to compensate for the error from the coarse digital control. The mode switching between the analog and digital controls is accomplished by a mode arbiter which estimates the average duty cycle for the given load condition from limit cycle oscillations induced by the coarse adjustments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: The Regents of The University of Michigan
    Inventors: Euisik Yoon, Sung-Yun Park
  • Patent number: 9923466
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a DC-DC converter having a first DC voltage gate, a second DC voltage gate and a storage choke. The storage choke is coupled between the first DC voltage gate and the second DC voltage gate by means of electric switching elements. The DC-DC converter is configured such that a direction of a current flow through the storage choke is inverted at least once during a switching period of the electric switching elements. Further, the DC-DC converter is configured to track or readjust a switching frequency of the electric switching elements in case of a change of operating parameters of the DC-DC converter such that a change of direction of the current flow through the storage choke during a switching period of the electric switching elements is ensured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur Foerderung Der Angewandlen Forschung E.V.
    Inventors: Zhe Yu, Klaus F. Hoffmann, Holger Kapels
  • Patent number: 9923460
    Abstract: Circuits, devices and methods for achieving small duty cycles in switching regulators. In some embodiments, a method for generating a low duty cycle output voltage can include setting a ramp signal to a first level substantially with a first edge of a clock signal, and ramping the ramp signal from the first level towards a second level such that voltage level of the ramp signal crosses a compensation level, with the ramping beginning at a time before a second edge of the clock signal. The method can further include starting an output pulse substantially with the second edge of the clock signal, and ending the output pulse substantially with an edge of a pulse-width modulation (PWM) signal that results from the ramp signal crossing the compensation level during the ramping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Zoki Li, Ghader Razmafrouz
  • Patent number: 9917521
    Abstract: A controller of a power converter is described that after switching-on a primary switch of a power converter, detects a voltage that is indicative of a primary current through the primary switch and responsive to determining that the voltage exceeds a direct-current (DC) voltage threshold, switches-off the primary switch. The controller stores a peak value of the voltage while switching-off the primary switch, and responsive to determining that the peak value is higher or lower than a range of target values associated with the peak value of the voltage, the controller adjusts at least one of the DC voltage threshold or the range of target values for a subsequent switching cycle of the primary switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
    Inventor: Xiaowu Gong
  • Patent number: 9917508
    Abstract: A charge pump circuit, and associated method and apparatuses, for providing a split-rail voltage supply, the circuit having a network of switches that is operable in a number of different states and a controller for operating the switches in a sequence of said states so as to generate positive and negative output voltages together spanning a voltage approximately equal to the input voltage and centered on the voltage at the common terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventor: John P. Lesso
  • Patent number: 9891642
    Abstract: A current source with hysteresis for an output circuit includes a tail current transistor, a resistor and a differential pair. The tail current transistor is used for supplying a current to the output circuit. The resistor is coupled to a drain terminal of the tail current transistor. The differential pair, coupled to the resistor, is used for controlling a magnitude of the current supplied to the output circuit. The differential pair includes a first transistor, of which a bulk terminal is coupled to a terminal of the resistor; and a second transistor, of which a bulk terminal is coupled to another terminal of the resistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: NOVATEK Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventor: Sheng-Wen Hsiao
  • Patent number: 9887618
    Abstract: There is provided a power supply device sensing an AC-off state. The power supply device includes a rectifier configured to rectify AC power into DC power, a transformer configured to supply output voltage by converting voltage of the DC power rectified by the rectifier, and a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control module configured to output voltage by switching a power switching device connected to the transformer, configured to drive the power supply device by connecting power of an HV pin to a VCC pin, and configured to determine an AC-off state by sensing voltage rectified by the rectifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: Magnachip Semiconductor, Ltd.
    Inventors: Zhi Yuan Cui, James Jung, Hae Wook Kim, Young Gi Ryu, Julie Jang
  • Patent number: 9882504
    Abstract: An HVDC power increase controller includes a command output unit for outputting a current command value according to a disturbance signal to a main controller; a voltage drop determiner receiving an alternating current (AC) voltage and comparing a level of the AC voltage to a lowest level of a voltage causing a rectification failure; and a power tracking determiner receiving a direct current (DC) power and comparing a level of the DC power to an estimated power level corresponding to the current command value. The command output unit adjusts the current command value according to a comparison result of the voltage drop determiner and the power tracking determiner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: Korea Electric Power Corporation
    Inventors: Seong Doo Lee, Soon Ho Choi, Chan Ki Kim
  • Patent number: 9876422
    Abstract: A switching mode power supply generating reduced high frequency noise. The power supply includes a solid state switch, a modulator for driving the solid state switch with a periodic pulse drive signal, an output filter at the output of the solid state switch, where the output filter includes an inductor and a catch diode. A damping element is included for damping current spikes through the catch diode when said solid state switch turns on and thus reduce noise pulses that would otherwise be introduced by the current spikes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: TRW Automotive U.S. LLC
    Inventor: Mark Emerson Grandy
  • Patent number: 9876435
    Abstract: A method comprises providing a resonant converter comprising a switching network comprising a first high-side switch, a second high-side switch, a first low-side switch and a second low-side switch, a resonant tank coupled between the switching network and a transformer and a rectifier coupled to a secondary side of the transformer, coupling a driver to the switching network and the rectifier, wherein the driver includes a first winding coupled to the rectifier, a second winding coupled to the first high-side switch and a third winding coupled to the second high-side switch, detecting a signal indicating a soft switching process of the driver and adjusting a resonant frequency of the driver until the resonant frequency of the driver approximately matches a switch frequency of the resonant converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: Futurewei Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Daoshen Chen, Heping Dai, Xujun Liu, Liming Ye, Dianbo Fu
  • Patent number: 9874888
    Abstract: In one example, a circuit includes a voltage source, a pass module, a differential amplifier module, and a control module. The pass module is configured to electronically couple, using a channel having a resistance, the voltage source and a load and to modify the resistance of the channel based on a control signal. The differential amplifier module is configured to generate a differential signal based on a comparison of a voltage reference and a representation of a voltage at the load. The control signal is based on the differential signal. The control module is configured to generate the representation of the voltage at the load according to a transfer function. The transfer function includes a zero positioned substantially at a crossover frequency of the transfer function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Derek Bernardon
  • Patent number: 9866113
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for flying capacitor balancing in multilevel converters are disclosed. Example flying capacitor balancing circuitry can include voltage difference sense and control circuitry and duty cycle timing adjustment circuitry. The voltage difference sense and control circuitry can generate a compensation control signal for the duty cycle timing adjustment circuitry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Rida Shawky Assaad, David Wayne Evans
  • Patent number: 9866119
    Abstract: A DC-DC converter includes an inductor, a switch module, a pull-up circuit and a pull-down circuit. The inductor has a first node and a second node, and the second node is coupled to an output node of the DC-DC converter. The switch module is arranged for selectively connecting an input voltage or a ground voltage to the first node of the inductor according to a driving signal. The pull-up circuit is arranged for selectively providing a first current to the output node of the DC-DC converter. The pull-down circuit is arranged for selectively sinking a second current from the output node of the DC-DC converter. In addition, at least one of the first current provided by the pull-up circuit and the second current sunk by the pull-down circuit is determined based on an inductor current flowing through the inductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: MEDIATEK INC.
    Inventors: Shih-Mei Lin, Chien-Wei Kuan, Chien-Lung Lee, Che-Hao Meng
  • Patent number: 9851739
    Abstract: Circuits for generating a PTAT voltage as a base-emitter voltage difference between a pair of bipolar transistors. The circuits may form unit cells in a cascading voltage reference circuit that increases the PTAT voltage with each subsequent stage. The bipolar transistors are controlled using a biasing arrangement that includes an MOS transistor connected to a current mirror that provides the base current for the bipolar transistors. A voltage reference is formed by combining a PTAT voltage and a CTAT voltage at the last stage. The voltage reference may be obtained from the voltage at an emitter of one of the bipolar transistors in the last stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: ANALOG DEVICES, INC.
    Inventor: Stefan Marinca
  • Patent number: 9853554
    Abstract: The present invention provides a power converter, and a control circuit and a standby power saving method thereof. The power converter provides an output voltage from an output terminal through an enable switch circuit to a power receiver. A detection signal shows whether a voltage at a signal transmission pin of the power converter is in a predetermined range, if not, the enable switch circuit is turned OFF. The power converter adjusts a feedback signal according to the detection signal or according to the detection signal and the output voltage, so as to adjust the output voltage to be lower than a normal operation level in a normal operation mode, to save power in a standby mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: RICHTEK TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kuang-Fu Chang
  • Patent number: 9837931
    Abstract: A steady state control method for a three-phase double-mode inverter. Off-grid steady state control is composed of outer loop power droop control, voltage feed-forward quasi-resonant control, and inner current loop dead-beat control. Therefore, the response speed of the inverter is raised, and the influence caused by the load fluctuation of a micro-grid is inhibited. Based on the off-grid steady state control, grid-connected steady state control introduces phase lead control to the power droop control. Therefore, the output voltage of the inverter is always slightly ahead of the power grid voltage, which avoids the energy pour backward phenomenon of the inverter due to a phase error, and realizes stable and reliable running in the grid-connected mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignees: Hunan University, Changsha Boli Electric Corporation
    Inventors: An Luo, Yandong Chen, Mingyue Wang, Qingchang Zhong, Leming Zhou, Yuan Huang, Zhiyong Chen, Xiaoping Zhou, Huimin Kuang, Mingshen Li
  • Patent number: 9837927
    Abstract: A power supply device includes a main unit and a power switching module. The main unit includes a primary circuit board, a transformer including a primary and a secondary coil, a primary-side circuit and a secondary-side circuit. The power switching module includes a separate PCB formed with at least two connection pads and two conductive tracks, and at least one power switching element disposed on the PCB and having two terminals respectively connected to the two connection pads through the two conductive tracks. The power switching module is in the form of a separate PCB that is electrically connected to the primary- or secondary-side circuits through the two connection pads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignees: Lite-On Electronics (Guangzhou) Limited, Lite-On Technology Corp.
    Inventors: Wei-Cheng Yu, Chi-Che Wu, Liang-Hong Wang
  • Patent number: 9831865
    Abstract: A method for controlling a first and a second reverse-conducting insulated gate bipolar transistor (RC-IGBT), electrically connected in series, is disclosed. A collector of the first RC-IGBT is electrically connected to a positive pole of a direct current voltage source, and an emitter of the second RC-IGBT is electrically connected to a negative pole of the DC voltage source. Further, an emitter of the first RC-IGBT is electrically connected to a collector of the second RC-IGBT to form an alternating current terminal. A gate voltage is applied to respective gates of the first and second RC-IGBTs, wherein the gate voltage is controlled based on a magnitude and a direction of an output current on the AC terminal and on a command signal alternating between a first and a second value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
    Inventors: Annika Lokrantz, Kristoffer Nilsson, Ying Jiang-Häfner, Christer Sjöberg, Lars Döfnäs, Wim Van-Der-Merwe
  • Patent number: 9831796
    Abstract: An energy harvesting device harvests energy from an energy source, and includes an inductor and a control switch coupled in series, and a control module. The series connection of the inductor and the control switch is adapted to be coupled to the energy source in parallel or in series. The control module controls the control switch such that the control switch starts to operate in an ON state for a predetermined time period from a transition time point during each predetermined cycle starting from a start time point, and such that a time difference between the transition time point and the start time point is variable. The control module obtains an output power of the energy source, and adjusts the time difference such that the output power of the energy source is increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: NATIONAL TSING HUA UNIVERSITY
    Inventor: Ping-Hsuan Hsieh