Patents Examined by Nguyen Tran
  • Patent number: 11687109
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes systems and methods for identifying defective components in a power integrated circuit. In one such system, a voltage regulator circuit is embedded in an integrated circuit device, wherein the voltage regulator circuit includes a control feedback loop having a compensation capacitor that is configured to maintain a stable output voltage of the voltage regulator voltage at a set value or range. Additionally, a test circuitry is embedded in the integrated circuit device, wherein the test circuitry comprises a voltage source that is configured to generate a cyclical test input signal that passes through the control feedback loop. Accordingly, the test circuitry is configured to provide a test output signal to an output pin of the integrated circuit device that indicates a performance level of the compensation capacitor in the control feedback loop of the voltage regulator circuit. Other systems and methods are also included.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc.
    Inventors: William R Eisenstadt, Anurag Tulsiram
  • Patent number: 11689101
    Abstract: Circuits and methods for adding a Current Mode signal into a Voltage Mode controller for fixed-frequency DC-to-DC power converters. A current-controlled voltage source (CCVS) generates a voltage proportional to the power converter output current, which voltage is combined with a comparison signal generated by comparing a target output voltage to the actual output voltage. The modified comparison signal generates a pulse-width modulation control signal that regulates the power converter output as a function of output voltage and some portion of output current. With the addition of an inductor current signal into the controller Voltage Mode feedback loop, the double pole predominant in constant conduction mode (CCM) mode can be smoothed over to improve stability, while discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) loop response is largely unchanged with or without the added Current Mode signal. Embodiments enable simplified compensation while covering a wider operating range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: pSemi Corporation
    Inventors: Brian Zanchi, Tim Wen Hui Yu, Gregory Szczeszynski
  • Patent number: 11687107
    Abstract: This application relates to voltage regulators and, particular, to low-dropout regulators (LDOs). The regulator (300) has an output stage (102) which receives an input voltage (Vin) and outputs an output voltage (Vout) and which includes at least one transistor (103) as an output device configured to pass an output current to the output, based on a drive voltage (V1). A differential amplifier (101) is configured to receive a feedback signal derived from the output voltage and also a reference voltage (REF) to generate an amplifier output to control the drive voltage (V1) to minimise any difference between the feedback signal and the reference voltage. A controller (301) is operable to selectively reconfigure the output stage to provide a change in output current in response to a load activity signal (ACT), which is indicative of a change in load activity that results in a change in load current demand for a load connected, in use, to the output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: Cirrus Logic, Inc.
    Inventors: John L. Melanson, John P. Lesso
  • Patent number: 11689107
    Abstract: A high voltage power system is disclosed. In some embodiments, the high voltage power system includes a high voltage pulsing power supply; a transformer electrically coupled with the high voltage pulsing power supply; an output electrically coupled with the transformer and configured to output high voltage pulses with an amplitude greater than 1 kV and a frequency greater than 1 kHz; and a bias compensation circuit arranged in parallel with the output. In some embodiments, the bias compensation circuit can include a blocking diode; and a DC power supply arranged in series with the blocking diode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: Eagle Harbor Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy Ziemba, Ilia Slobodov, Alex Henson, Morgan Quinley, John Carscadden, James Prager, Kenneth Miller
  • Patent number: 11684060
    Abstract: The invention relates to a weed inactivation device, comprising at least one electrode, whereby at least one electrode is directed to the weed. The electrode is supplied with electrical energy by an electrical power supply, containing an h-bridge inverter for DC/AC conversion to create rectangular wave AC-current. The inversion takes place at frequencies above 1.0 kHz. The weed activation device enables weed control without utilization of poisonous herbicides.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: Zasso Group AG
    Inventors: Sergio De Andrade Coutinho Filho, Jose Antenor Pomilio, Bruno Valverde, Diego Teruo Mendes De Souza
  • Patent number: 11683008
    Abstract: A photovoltaic inverter, a photovoltaic system, and a method for controlling discharging are provided. The photovoltaic inverter includes a first DCDC converter, an inverter circuit, a first discharging circuit, and a controller. A port capacitor is connected between a positive input end and a negative input end of the first DCDC converter. The port capacitor includes an X capacitor and a first group of Y capacitors. The first discharging circuit is connected between a common terminal of the first group of Y capacitors and a direct current bus, where the common terminal of the first group of Y capacitors is grounded. The controller is configured to control, when receiving a rapid shutdown instruction, the first discharging circuit to operate. The first discharging circuit is configured to discharge electrical energy of the port capacitor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Xinyu Wang, Anying Jiang, Shun Ding, Yanfei Yu, Xiaoxun Li
  • Patent number: 11682973
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a first timer configured to determine a turn-off time of a first high-side switch of a buck-boost converter, and a second timer configured to determine a turn-off time of a second low-side switch of the buck-boost converter based on a comparison between a first signal and a second signal, the first signal being proportional to an input voltage of the buck-boost converter, and the second signal being generated based on a signal proportional to an output voltage of the buck-boost converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: M3 Technology Inc.
    Inventors: Bo Yang, Xiaoyu Xi, David Meng
  • Patent number: 11677231
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a single-phase reclosing method, device and storage medium for AC/DC system. The method comprises: acquiring three-phase voltages at inverter-side AC bus close to the transformer, three-phase currents measured at the outlet of inverter-side AC line and three-phase voltages at inverter-side AC bus far from the transformer; calculating the energy calculation value and energy operation value of the fault line; identifying the fault nature of fault line within the maximum time delay, according to the energy calculation value and energy operation value of fault line and an energy criterion of transient/permanent fault; issuing a reclosing control signal based on the fault nature of fault line to realize effective reclosing of the fault line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: NORTH CHINA ELECTRIC POWER UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Jing Ma, Chen Liu, Jiaming Zhang, Min Zhang
  • Patent number: 11677320
    Abstract: Boot-strapping systems and techniques for circuits are described. One or more solid-state switches of a switched regulation circuit may be implemented using core transistors and the boot-strapping systems, rather than I/O transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: Empower Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Parag Oak, Timothy A. Phillips
  • Patent number: 11671023
    Abstract: A power supply control circuit for a switch mode power supply converter, and a power supply control method using the control circuit. The control circuit includes an auxiliary boosting unit, a main control unit and an auxiliary winding unit. The main control unit is configured to control the power switch in a power stage circuit to turn on or to be off, and to supply power to the auxiliary boosting unit. The auxiliary boosting unit is configured to provide auxiliary power for the main control unit, and to self-adaptively adjust the auxiliary boosting unit's own average switching frequency based on a load state of the main control unit. The auxiliary winding unit is configured to couple energy by means of a magnetic element in the power stage circuit, to generate an output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: Wuxi Chipown Microelectronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ping Tao, Haijun Zhou, Haisong Li, Yangbo Yi, Wei Gao, Hongxing Li
  • Patent number: 11669116
    Abstract: A low dropout regulator includes a proportional-to-absolute-temperature (PTAT) circuit, an amplification circuit, and an output circuit. The PTAT circuit outputs one current, and the amplification circuit outputs one or more currents. The one or more currents are outputted by the amplification circuit based on collector-emitter voltages associated with transistors of the PTAT circuit. Alternatively, the one or more currents are outputted by the amplification circuit based on the current outputted by the PTAT circuit and the collector-emitter voltages associated with the transistors of the PTAT circuit. The output circuit generates one or more output voltages based on at least one of a base-emitter voltage associated with a transistor of the PTAT circuit and a current of the one or more currents outputted by the amplification circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Sushil Kumar Gupta, Pankaj Agrawal
  • Patent number: 11670943
    Abstract: A control method of a power control device includes: receiving power from a power supply, distributing the power to at least one of a plurality of power conversion systems (PCSs), and transferring the power to a load using the at least one PCS. The power is distributed based on a load amount of power of each of the plurality of PCSs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Seungwook Hyun, Sunyoung Park, Changjin Lim, Jungmin Kim
  • Patent number: 11664733
    Abstract: A control method of a flyback power converter includes a voltage detection pin detecting conduction time of a power switch of a primary side of the flyback power converter, a feedback pin detecting conduction time of a synchronous switch of a secondary side of the flyback power converter, the feedback pin detecting a number of inductor capacitor resonant valleys when the flyback power converter operates in a discontinuous conduction mode, and a high voltage detection pin detecting an input voltage inputted in the flyback power converter; and a controller applied to the flyback power converter making the flyback power converter operate in a quasi-resonant mode when the number of the inductor capacitor resonant valleys is greater than a predetermined number, an operational frequency of the flyback power converter is less than a predetermined frequency, and the input voltage is less than a predetermined voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: Leadtrend Technology Corp.
    Inventors: Ming-Chang Tsou, Hung-Ting Hsu, Ya-Fu Huang
  • Patent number: 11664729
    Abstract: A power-supply module according to the present embodiment comprises a capacitor and a switching circuit. The switching circuit comprises a plurality of switching elements, and is configured to charge the capacitor by using an input voltage with a combination of connection and disconnection of the switching elements, and output an output voltage that is different from the input voltage. The capacitor is a silicon capacitor, and each of the switching elements is a transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA ELECTRONIC DEVICES & STORAGE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Mitsuhiro Kameda
  • Patent number: 11658569
    Abstract: A method of implementing a load line in a power converter includes: adjusting a target voltage used to regulate an output voltage of the power converter, based on sensed load current information that has delay between updates; and responsive to detecting a load current transient and before the next update to the sensed load current information becomes available, adjusting the target voltage based on blind load current information. A corresponding controller, power converter and electronic system are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Inventors: Keng Chen, Charles Amirault, James Garret
  • Patent number: 11656644
    Abstract: A control circuit of a power converter includes a first sensing circuit, a reference voltage generation circuit, an error amplifying circuit and a PWM circuit. The first sensing circuit, coupled to a first output circuit, provides a first current sensing signal. The reference voltage generation circuit, coupled to the first sensing circuit, provides a reference voltage according to the first current sensing signal. The error amplifying circuit, coupled to the reference voltage generation circuit, receives the reference voltage and an output feedback voltage of the power converter to provide an error amplifying signal. The PWM circuit, coupled between the error amplifying circuit and the first output circuit, receives the error amplifying signal and provides a control signal to control the first output circuit. The reference voltage generation circuit further receives the error amplifying signal and adjusts the reference voltage it generates according to the error amplifying signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: UPI SEMICONDUCTOR CORP.
    Inventors: Wei-Hsiu Hung, Min-Rui Lai, Chih-Lien Chang
  • Patent number: 11656642
    Abstract: An electronic circuit comprises an error amplifier and an overshoot and undershoot detection circuit. The error amplifier has an output stage including a differential input to single ended output amplifier that includes a frequency compensation resistor. A switch circuit is connected across the frequency compensation resistor that shunts the frequency compensation resistor when activated. The overshoot and undershoot detection circuit compares differential input nodes of the output amplifier to a baseline voltage signal and activates the switch circuit when detecting an overshoot condition or an undershoot condition using the baseline voltage signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Murat Sekerli, Matthew Winslow Oesting
  • Patent number: 11652346
    Abstract: A system and method of protecting the input components of a power supply. An input overcurrent protection module is provided, which may be implemented in firmware, which monitors the input current through an input interface of the power supply. When the input current exceeds a threshold current (i.e., a current above the maximum rating of an input component, such as an input cable), the input current protection module determines whether an input overcurrent event is occurring. When it is determined that an input overcurrent event has occurred, the input current protection module disables the output circuitry of the power supply and triggers a few timers. The input overcurrent protection module continues to monitor the input and, if the input current continues to exceed the threshold current, is configured to shut down the power supply. In this way, input components may be protected from overcurrent issues in high-power systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
    Inventors: Rama Prasad Atluri, Stewart Gavin Goodson, II, Mark A Lawrence
  • Patent number: 11652403
    Abstract: A switching power source device includes a plurality of power source circuits including a first power source circuit corresponding to a first phase of an external power source, and a second power source circuit corresponding to a second phase of the external power source that is different from the first phase; a first switching circuit capable of switching between a plurality of connection modes including a first mode of connecting the second power source circuit to the first phase in parallel with the first power source circuit, and a second mode of connecting the second power source circuit to the second phase; a memory; and a hardware processor coupled to the memory, the hardware processor being configured to open and close a switching element included in the first power source circuit and a switching element included in the second power source circuit, in different phases in the first mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shuhei Chizuwa
  • Patent number: 11632065
    Abstract: A method for providing grid-forming control of an inverter-based resource includes monitoring the electrical grid for one or more grid events. The method also includes controlling, via a power regulator of a controller, an active power of the inverter-based resource based on whether the one or more grid events is indicative of a severe grid event. In particular, when the one or more grid events are below a severe grid event threshold, thereby indicating the one or more grid events is not a severe grid event, the method includes controlling, via the power regulator, the active power according to a normal operating mode. Further, when the one or more grid events exceed the severe grid event threshold, thereby indicating the one or more grid events is a severe grid event, the method includes controlling, via the power regulator, the active power according to a modified operating mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Dustin Howard, Einar Vaughn Larsen