With Rectifier Or Nonlinear Impedance Patents (Class 327/330)
  • Patent number: 6765425
    Abstract: A rectifying circuit and method to produce a DC output by rectifying a sinusoidal source having a plurality of output phase voltages and a plurality of phase-to-phase voltages, the rectifying circuit including a bridge circuit coupled to the output phase voltages, the bridge circuit having a plurality of switches; and a control circuit coupled to the output phase voltages and to the bridge circuit, the control circuit being configured to control the switches in accordance with respective absolute values of the phase-to-phase voltages; wherein the output phase voltages are rectified to produce the DC output. When the sinusoidal source is inductive, switch turn-off may be timed to provide synchronous rectification related to estimates of source periodicity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2004
    Assignee: International Rectifier Corporation
    Inventor: Bertrand Vaysse
  • Patent number: 6703886
    Abstract: In a circuit arrangement for rectifying a signal, in which two transconductors are controllable with opposite phase by means of the signal to be rectified, the outputs of the transconductors are connected to a first circuit point via a first diode and to a second circuit point via a second diode having an opposite polarity with respect to the first diode. The circuit points are connected to a predetermined potential. A rectified signal can be derived from at least one of the circuit points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2004
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventor: Andreas Wichern
  • Publication number: 20030164726
    Abstract: A rectifying circuit and method to produce a DC output by rectifying a sinusoidal source having a plurality of output phase voltages and a plurality of phase-to-phase voltages, the rectifying circuit including a bridge circuit coupled to the output phase voltages, the bridge circuit having a plurality of switches; and a control circuit coupled to the output phase voltages and to the bridge circuit, the control circuit being configured to control the switches in accordance with respective absolute values of the phase-to-phase voltages; wherein the output phase voltages are rectified to produce the DC output. When the sinusoidal source is inductive, switch turn-off may be timed to provide synchronous rectification related to estimates of source periodicity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2003
    Publication date: September 4, 2003
    Inventor: Bertrand Vaysse
  • Patent number: 6605980
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a synchronous rectifier circuit having a transformer (Ü) in single-phase center-tap connection. MOSFETs containing a body diode are used as switches. The MOSFETs are connected up in such a way that a current flows only from source to drain. The channel of the MOSFETs is always switched on if current would flow through the body diode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2003
    Assignee: Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft fuer elektrische Gluehlampen mbH
    Inventor: Helmut Haeusser-Boehm
  • Patent number: 6597228
    Abstract: In a half-wave or multi-path RF diode-rectifier circuit having at least one rectifier diode and at least one output-side charging capacitor, the output is loaded with a non-linear load resistance having approximately the same relative temperature coefficient as the video resistance at zero bias of the rectifier diode and being non-linear, so that linearization of the relationship between output voltage and the square of input voltage is carried out beyond the square-law range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2003
    Assignee: Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Thomas Reichel
  • Publication number: 20030042964
    Abstract: In a circuit arrangement for rectifying a signal, in which two transconductors are controllable with opposite phase by means of the signal to be rectified, the outputs of the transconductors are connected to a first circuit point via a first diode and to a second circuit point via a second diode having an opposite polarity with respect to the first diode. The circuit points are connected to a predetermined potential. A rectified signal can be derived from at least one of the circuit points.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2002
    Publication date: March 6, 2003
    Inventor: Andreas Wichern
  • Patent number: 6501320
    Abstract: A rectifier circuit with a transistor having first and second electrodes coupled between an input and output of the rectifier circuit. A latch has an output connected to a control node of the transistor, and has first and second inputs connected to the input and output of the rectifier circuit, respectively. The invention provides a self-contained, self-powered, self-regulated low turn-on voltage diode-rectifier with maximum current (on-state conductance) when forward-biased. This circuit can be inserted between any two nodes and behaves like a Schottky diode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2002
    Assignee: Exar Corporation
    Inventor: Hung Pham Le
  • Patent number: 6448856
    Abstract: An electronic volume circuit is provided, which can be driven by a single power source and can therefore be formed by an LSI that can be fabricated in a simple manner using an oxide film and a junction process for a single power source. A first amplifying circuit attenuates the amplitude of a bipolar input signal and converts the attenuated input signal to a unipolar signal, and a variable resistor device controls the degree of attenuation of the first amplifying circuit based on an externally supplied signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2002
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Masao Noro, Nobuaki Tsuji
  • Publication number: 20020070786
    Abstract: A diode detection circuit is capable of obtaining an ideal rectification voltage even the case of a minute input high-frequency voltage. The circuit includes a first diode that accepts an AC signal; a first parallel circuit consisting of a resistor and a capacitor, the first parallel circuit accepting a detection output from the first diode; a first operational amplifier having a positive input terminal that accepts a charging voltage for the capacitor of the first parallel circuit; a second diode that accepts an output from the first operational amplifier; a first switching circuit consisting of a first switch and an oscillator, the first switching circuit providing a control of the ratio of conduction to non-conduction of the first and second diodes; a second parallel circuit consisting of a resistor and a capacitor, the second parallel circuit accepting an output from the first switching circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2001
    Publication date: June 13, 2002
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Yokota
  • Patent number: 6400205
    Abstract: A diode detection circuit is capable of obtaining an ideal rectification voltage even the case of a minute input high-frequency voltage. The circuit includes a first diode that accepts an AC signal; a first parallel circuit consisting of a resistor and a capacitor, the first parallel circuit accepting a detection output from the first diode; a first operational amplifier having a positive input terminal that accepts a charging voltage for the capacitor of the first parallel circuit; a second diode that accepts an output from the first operational amplifier; a first switching circuit consisting of a first switch and an oscillator, the first switching circuit providing a control of the ratio of conduction to non-conduction of the first and second diodes; a second parallel circuit consisting of a resistor and a capacitor, the second parallel circuit accepting an output from the first switching circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Yokota
  • Patent number: 6369635
    Abstract: A temperature-compensated diode rectifier circuit is coupled to the outside of an HF amplifier (PA) to derive a rectified voltage (UD) from an HF output signal (RFOUT) with a rectifier input (IR) via a directional coupler (D-CO) with secondary connections (1, 2), and has a rectifier output (OR) for the rectified voltage (UD), a rectifier diode (D1), a charging capacitor (C1) and a ballast resistor (R2). To stabilize the rectified voltage against temperature influences, the rectifier input (IR) is connected to a d.c. input voltage (UIN), and a compensating diode (D2) is in series with the ballast resistor (R2), and a dropping resistor (R1) is in series with the rectifier diode (D1). According to the invention the rectifier diode (D1), the compensating diode (D2), the dropping resistor (R1), the ballast resistor (R2) and the directional coupler (D-CO) are connected to the d.c. input voltage (UIN) so that the voltage amplitude of the decoupled HF output signal (RFOUT) is added to the d.c. input voltage (UIN).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2002
    Assignee: Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd.
    Inventors: Manfred Weiss, Martin Fritzmann
  • Patent number: 6369641
    Abstract: In one aspect, a bias circuit includes a rectifier, a negative bias level setter, and a negative bias extractor. The rectifier has a rectifier input and a rectifier output. The rectifier is configured to produce at the rectifier output a negative rectified voltage signal from an alternating input signal applied at the rectifier input. The negative bias level setter couples to the rectifier output and provides a path for current establishing the negative rectified voltage signal produced at the rectifier output. The negative bias extractor has an extractor output and an extractor input coupled to the rectifier output. The negative bias extractor is configured to produce at the extractor output a substantially constant negative bias signal from the negative rectified voltage signal produced at the rectifier output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2002
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies North America Corp.
    Inventors: Brian J. McNamara, Heinz Banzer, Ludger Verweyen
  • Patent number: 6252439
    Abstract: A current level detector device for protecting a circuit against alternating current overcurrents includes resistor arrangements that are inserted into the circuit to be protected and two detector cells, one for each half-wave of the current. The detector cells are similar to each other and are connected to the terminals of the resistor arrangements. By means of a crossover circuit, the two detector cells are both connected to the terminals of the same resistor arrangements. Applications include protecting circuits using power semiconductors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2001
    Assignees: Legrand, Legrand SNC
    Inventor: Didier Leblanc
  • Patent number: 6229371
    Abstract: The present invention makes it possible to prevent feedback loops from causing oscillations in clamp circuits. When a video signal is input through a capacitor into a first inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier, the output terminal tends to reach a high level because the potential of the first inverting input terminal is lower than the potential of the non-inverting input terminal to which the black level reference signal is input. Thereby the NPN transistor whose base is connected to the output terminal is turned on to charge the capacitor. When the charging of the capacitor approaches completion, the potential of the first inverting input terminal becomes higher than the potential of the second inverting input terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2001
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Kouichi Nishimura, Yoshihiko Hori
  • Patent number: 6084458
    Abstract: A bi-directional transistor structure is provided, which can help solve the problem of degraded performance due to hot carrier injection (HCI) effect that is otherwise prominent in conventional bi-directional transistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2000
    Assignee: United Microelectronics Corp.
    Inventor: Kuan-Yu Fu
  • Patent number: 6064249
    Abstract: A LDMOS having improved ESD reliability and a method for designing such a LDMOS. A higher gate clamp voltage and/or minimized drain clamp voltage is used to maximize the ESD performance of the LDMOS. Given a set of design parameters, one or more of the gate clamp voltage, drain clamp voltage, or size of the LDMOS are optimized to meet the design parameters while achieving the optimum ESD performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2000
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Charvaka Duvvury, Fred Carvajal, David Briggs
  • Patent number: 6008684
    Abstract: An MOS-controlled, lateral SCR device including a semiconductor substrate of a first doping type; a first well region formed in the substrate and being of a second doping type which is different from the first doping type; a second well region formed in the substrate, being of the second doping type, and being spaced apart from the first well region so as to define an intermediate region separating the first and second well regions from each other; a first region formed within the first well region and extending into the intermediate region between the first and second well regions, the first region being of the second doping type; a second region formed within the second well region and extending into the intermediate region between the first and second well regions, the second region being of the second doping type; and a control gate bridging over the intermediate region between the first and second regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1999
    Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
    Inventors: Ming-Dou Ker, Hun-Hsien Chang
  • Patent number: 5721506
    Abstract: A highly efficient compact multiple output voltage generation circuit is designed for use in integrated circuit devices such as DRAMs which require multiple internal voltage supplies for optimum performance. An oscillator is connected to a primary coil of a microtransformer. The microtransformer secondary coil has multiple taps one of which is connected to ground. A second transformer tap is connected to a transformer output node. The oscillating transformer output signal is capacitively coupled to a voltage rectifier. The input to the rectifier is biased to one diode drop below Vcc. The output of the rectifier is an internal supply voltage greater than ground. Another transformer tap is connected to a negative oscillation output node. The negative oscillating signal is rectified to produce a negative internal supply voltage. The voltage generation circuit operates effectively at low Vcc input levels where capacitor based voltage pumps often fail. The circuit is compatible with CMOS manufacturing processes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1998
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Mohamed A. Imam, Patrick J. Mullarkey
  • Patent number: 5648739
    Abstract: A switching device has at least a first connection and a second connection, as well as a control connection. The switching device includes at least a first transistor and a second transistor. A load is connected to the second connection of the switching device, and a control unit is connected to the control connection of the switching device. A power supply is normally connected to the first connection, and the second connection is normally connected to ground via the load. The switching device further includes a polarity reversal protection system for protecting the switching device and the load from damage in case of a polarity reversal, which occurs when the power supply is connected to the second connection through the load, and the first connection is connected to ground. The second transistor is connected in series between the first connection of the switching device and the first transistor. The second transistor is operated inversely with respect to the first transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 15, 1997
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Walther, Gerhard Siese
  • Patent number: 5493247
    Abstract: In a circuit for hard driving a GTO, the conductor inductance (L1) and the internal inductance of the GTO (L2) form, together with a first capacitor (C1) situated in parallel via a switch (S), a series resonance circuit inside the gate circuit. In this connection, the chosen sizes of the first capacitor (C1) and of the first inductance (L1) are such that, if the first capacitor (C1) discharges via the two inductances (L1, L2), the gate current originating from the first capacitor (C1) exceeds half the value of a GTO anode current to be turned off within less than 5 .mu.s in the first quarter cycle of the series oscillatory circuit. Moreover, first means are provided which uncouple the first capacitor (C1) from the generation of the gate current after the first quarter cycle of the resonance circuit and allows the gate current to decay slowly in such a way that, at any time, it is greater than the tail current of the GTO.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 20, 1996
    Assignee: Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.
    Inventor: Horst Gruning