A method of operating a relaxation oscillator includes determining a measure of a propagation delay of a detection device of a relaxation oscillator and increasing a charging rate of a capacitor device of the relaxation oscillator for a time duration based on the determined measure of the propagation delay.

Some apparatus and associated methods relate to conductivity modulation apparatus for active operations with an inductive element in a packaged circuit module formed with a bypass switch for configuration in parallel with an inductor. In an illustrative example, the bypass switch may be a controllable bidirectional switch formed of, for example, two anti-series connected MOSFETs. In some embodiments, the packaged module may include a main switch and/or a freewheeling rectifier (e.g., synchronous rectifier) operable as a buck-derived switched mode power supply. The bypass switch may, in operation, selectively circulate inductor current through the bypass switch, for example, to control the timing and/or quantity of energy transfer from the inductor to a load. In some implementations, the bypass switch may be operated, for example, to dynamically modulate conductivity across the terminals of an inductor in a buck-derived switched mode power supply to enhance circuit performance in numerous operational modes.

In various embodiments, a level shifter circuit is provided. The level shifter circuit may include a signal source and a level shifter. The signal source, on the output side, is capacitively coupled to an input of the level shifter. The signal source and the level shifter are galvanically isolated from one another.

Some apparatus and associated methods relate to conductivity modulation apparatus for active operations with an inductive element in a packaged circuit module formed with a bypass switch for configuration in parallel with an inductor. In an illustrative example, the bypass switch may be a controllable bidirectional switch formed of, for example, two anti-series connected MOSFETs. In some embodiments, the packaged module may include a main switch and/or a freewheeling rectifier (e.g., synchronous rectifier) operable as a buck-derived switched mode power supply. The bypass switch may, in operation, selectively circulate inductor current through the bypass switch, for example, to control the timing and/or quantity of energy transfer from the inductor to a load. In some implementations, the bypass switch may be operated, for example, to dynamically modulate conductivity across the terminals of an inductor in a buck-derived switched mode power supply to enhance circuit performance in numerous operational modes.

A method for programming a two-wire sensor having at least two sensor units. The method comprises the following steps of: switching on the at least two sensor units, activating one of the at least two sensor units, capturing operating states of the at least two sensor units; detecting an operating state in which one individual sensor unit is active; and sending a programming command to the detected active sensor unit.

A method, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for detecting voltage anomaly in an electrical grid are provided. An electricity meter may collect voltage data by sampling a voltage waveform of the electrical grid at a preselected sampling rate; based on the voltage data, determine standard voltage waveform statistics of voltage of the electrical grid including statistical metrics; determine a range for the statistical metrics based on the standard voltage waveform statistics; at a preselected interval, calculate a statistical value of the statistical metrics of a present voltage waveform sampled at the preselected sampling rate for a preselected interval of the present voltage waveform; and in response to determining that the statistical value is outside of the range: capturing a predetermined number of cycles of voltage waveforms around the present voltage waveform, and sending an alarm to a remote computing device associated with the electrical grid.

Some apparatus and associated methods relate to a buck-derived switched mode power supply with three-quarter bridge (TQB) formed with a bypass switch in parallel with an inductor. In an illustrative example, the bypass switch may be configured to, in response to a decrease in average load demand, operate in a first mode to turn on the bypass switch to selectively circulate inductor current through the bypass switch while a high-side switch and a low-side switch are off. In a second mode, the bypass switch may be turned off to circulate the inductor current through, for example, an output capacitor and the low-side switch. In some implementations of the TQB, the bypass switch may be operated, for example, to selectively transfer a controlled amount of energy stored in the inductor to the output capacitor in response to a decrease in average load demand.

Some apparatus and associated methods relate to a buck-derived switched mode power supply with constant on-time and configured to substantially maintain a steady-state average switch period in a time interval between a start of a load transient and the time when the inductor current returns to a steady state. In an illustrative example, the time interval may include a first and a second predetermined number of cycles after the start of the load transient. The switch period may be modulated, for example, by an amount calculated to supply a change in additional energy demand in the first number of cycles and an opposite amount in the subsequent second number of cycles calculated to maintain the average steady-state switch period over the time interval. In various examples, maintaining average switching period with constant on-time may minimize transient response times without sacrificing stability and without the need for complex compensation networks.

A voltage transient detector includes circuitry for transmitting electrical current through a light emitting diode and a fuse that is serially connected between the light emitting diode and a reference potential, such that the light emitting diode is illuminated when the fuse is not blown. The voltage transient detector also includes circuitry for transmitting a controlled amount of electrical current through the fuse in conjunction with an occurrence of a voltage transient at a voltage measurement location, where the voltage transient exceeds a set transient threshold voltage. The controlled amount of electrical current transmitted through the fuse causing the fuse to blow and the light emitting diode to turn off, thereby indicating occurrence of the voltage transient at the voltage measurement location.

A load short-circuit detection method is a load short-circuit detection method executed in a load drive device including: a power storage element that stores electric power for driving a load; a first switch that is connected to a low-potential side of the load and controls a current flowing through the load; and a voltage detection circuit that detects a voltage of a current flow path flowing from the power storage element to a low-potential side power supply via the first switch. The load short-circuit detection method includes: PWM-driving the first switch at a predetermined duty ratio; and detecting that the load is being short-circuited in a case where a state in which the voltage of the current flow path detected by the voltage detection circuit is lower than or equal to a predetermined threshold voltage continues for a predetermined period of time or longer.