The present disclosure relates to a monitoring system for a plurality of power devices serially connected in a main circuit of a current transmission path comprising a first power device and a second power device each including a semiconductor element; a first sensor connected to the first and second power devices, and which senses information related to a first current flowing in the first power device; a second sensor for sensing information related to a second current flowing in the second power device; a third sensor for sensing information related to a third current flowing between the first power device and the second power device; and a control unit for comparing the first current and the second current on the basis of the third current measured by the third sensor, and determining whether the state of each power device is abnormal based on a difference with the third current.

The present disclosure relates to a monitoring system for a plurality of power devices serially connected in a main circuit of a current transmission path comprising a first power device and a second power device each including a semiconductor element; a first sensor connected to the first and second power devices, and which senses information related to a first current flowing in the first power device; a second sensor for sensing information related to a second current flowing in the second power device; a third sensor for sensing information related to a third current flowing between the first power device and the second power device; and a control unit for comparing the first current and the second current on the basis of the third current measured by the third sensor, and determining whether the state of each power device is abnormal based on a difference with the third current.

A method of determining a high voltage value without measuring the high voltage value directly, in varying possible temperatures. An apparatus includes two voltage divider circuits (108, 110; 109, 111), wherein the second circuit (i.e. a reference circuit 109, 111) is provided with a smaller reference input voltage (102). The transfer ratio can be obtained from the reference circuit (109, 111) through voltage measurements, and deduced into a transfer ratio of another circuit (108, 110), no matter the ambient temperature value. When measuring a divided voltage value (103) of one circuit (108, 110), the desired high voltage value (101) can be calculated, no matter what the ambient temperature is.

A method of determining a high voltage value without measuring the high voltage value directly, in varying possible temperatures. An apparatus includes two voltage divider circuits (108, 110; 109, 111), wherein the second circuit (i.e. a reference circuit 109, 111) is provided with a smaller reference input voltage (102). The transfer ratio can be obtained from the reference circuit (109, 111) through voltage measurements, and deduced into a transfer ratio of another circuit (108, 110), no matter the ambient temperature value. When measuring a divided voltage value (103) of one circuit (108, 110), the desired high voltage value (101) can be calculated, no matter what the ambient temperature is.

A circuit for sensing the driving current of a motor, the circuit comprising: a driver configured to generate a driving current for each phase of a multiple-phase motor, the instantaneous sum of all the driving currents being zero; a current sensor for each phase of the multiple-phase motor, each current sensor configured to measure the driving current of that phase and comprising a plurality of current sensor elements arranged with respect to each other such that each current sensor element has the same magnitude of driving current systematic error due to magnetic fields external to the driving current to be measured; and a controller configured to, for each phase of the multiple-phase motor, generate an estimate of the driving current of that phase to be the measured driving current of that phase minus 1/n of the total of the measured driving currents for all phases, n being the number of phases of the multiple-phase motor.

A circuit for sensing the driving current of a motor, the circuit comprising: a driver configured to generate a driving current for each phase of a multiple-phase motor, the instantaneous sum of all the driving currents being zero; a current sensor for each phase of the multiple-phase motor, each current sensor configured to measure the driving current of that phase and comprising a plurality of current sensor elements arranged with respect to each other such that each current sensor element has the same magnitude of driving current systematic error due to magnetic fields external to the driving current to be measured; and a controller configured to, for each phase of the multiple-phase motor, generate an estimate of the driving current of that phase to be the measured driving current of that phase minus 1/n of the total of the measured driving currents for all phases, n being the number of phases of the multiple-phase motor.

A sensor is provided comprising: a substrate having a first region and a second region; a first series of first magnetoresistive (MR) elements formed on the substrate, the first series of first MR elements including at least two first MR elements; a second series of second MR elements formed on the substrate, the second series of second MR elements being electrically coupled to the first series of MR elements to form a bridge circuit, the second series of MR elements including at least two second MR elements, each of the second MR elements having a different pinning direction than at least one of the first MR elements, wherein one of the first MR elements and one of the second MR elements are formed in the first region of the substrate and have different pinning directions.

A sensor is provided comprising: a substrate having a first region and a second region; a first series of first magnetoresistive (MR) elements formed on the substrate, the first series of first MR elements including at least two first MR elements; a second series of second MR elements formed on the substrate, the second series of second MR elements being electrically coupled to the first series of MR elements to form a bridge circuit, the second series of MR elements including at least two second MR elements, each of the second MR elements having a different pinning direction than at least one of the first MR elements, wherein one of the first MR elements and one of the second MR elements are formed in the first region of the substrate and have different pinning directions.

In a DC-DC converter, a layout is designed to enable utilization the conductive trace connecting the converter output node to an output bump at which the load is attached as a sense resistor. The layout forces the output current down into lower metallization levels of an interconnect layer reaching the converter output node before the output current flows up into this conductive trace and out through the output bump. The conductive trace includes resistive pillars connected in parallel or series between the lower metallization levels and a top metallization layer of the conductive trace, with these resistive pillars being substantially greater in resistance than the lower metallization levels and the top metallization layer of the conductive trace.

A signal conditioning circuit for monitoring at least one parameter of an electrical signal in an electrical conductor. The signal conditioning circuit can include an integrator circuit having an input for receiving a signal from a current sensor coupled to the electrical conductor. A first analog switch has an input coupled to the output of the integrator circuit, wherein the first analog switch is controlled by the output of a time delay circuit. A power stage circuit has an input coupled to the output of the first analog switch. The signal conditioning circuit can be used for line fault detection.