A circuit and a corresponding method for driving one or more electric loads are described, comprising: a generator (110) of an electric current waveform, and a passive filter (150) connected in input to the generator (110) and in output to each electric load (105) to be driven, wherein the passive filter (150) is tuned for generating an electric current waveform resulting from a conditioning of one or more harmonics of the electric current waveform in input.

A gate driver of a power device includes a power supply and a resonant circuit. The power supply may have a positive potential and a negative potential. The resonant circuit may include an inductor and be configured to recirculate charge during turn-off by inducing a first field based on a positive charge from a gate caused by the positive potential, and in response to reversal of a voltage across the inductor, collapsing the first field to draw charge from the gate.

A FET driving circuit includes: two inputs for inputting a DC voltage; two outputs respectively connected to gate and source electrodes of a FET; a switch; a resonant capacitance connected between both ends of the switch; and an LC resonance circuit connected between the inputs and both ends of the switch. When the two inputs are shorted, frequency characteristics of an impedance of the LC resonance circuit include, in order from a low to a high-frequency side, first to fourth resonant frequencies. The first resonant frequency is higher than a switching frequency of the switch, the second resonant frequency is around double the switching frequency, the fourth resonant frequency is around four times the switching frequency, and the impedance has local maxima at the first resonant frequency and the third resonant frequency and local minima at the second resonant frequency and the fourth resonant frequency.

A FET driving circuit includes: inputs into which a DC voltage is inputted; outputs connected to gate and source electrodes of a FET; a switch; a capacitance connected across the switch; and an LC resonance circuit connected in series with the switch across the inputs. A voltage generated across the switch during switching is outputted to drive the FET. The LC resonance circuit has a first connector connected to one input and a second connector connected to the switch, and is configured with a path including an inductance and a path including an inductance and a capacitance. An impedance between the first and second connectors has two resonant frequencies. The impedance has a local maximum at the lower resonant frequency, which is higher than a switching frequency, and a local minimum at the higher resonant frequency, which is around double the switching frequency.

A gate drive circuit arranged to receive an input signal and provide an output signal to drive a gate of a transistor is presented. The gate drive circuit comprises a filter circuit arranged to attenuate a frequency band from the input signal when deriving the output signal from the input signal. The filter circuit contains programmable resistive elements, comprising: a first programmable resistive element arranged to adjust a low frequency gain and bandwidth of the gate drive circuit; a second programmable resistive element arranged to adjust a high frequency gain of the gate drive circuit; and a pair of programmable resistive elements arranged to adjust a driving gain of the gate drive circuit. A method of receiving an input signal and deriving an output signal from an input signal is also presented. The step of deriving an output signal comprises attenuating a frequency band from the input signal.

A gate drive circuit including a drive-on element that applies an on-state voltage to a gate of a drive target semiconductor element and a drive-off element that applies an off-state voltage to the gate is such that a recovery switch, a reactor, and a capacitor are connected in series between output terminals of the gate drive circuit as a recovery circuit that can recover a charge accumulated in input capacitance of the drive target semiconductor element when turning on, and the drive-on element, the drive-off element, and the recovery switch are controlled by a control circuit, whereby power consumption of the gate drive circuit is reduced.

A gate driver of a power device includes a power supply and a resonant circuit. The power supply may have a positive potential and a negative potential. The resonant circuit may include an inductor and be configured to recirculate charge during turn-off by inducing a first field based on a positive charge from a gate caused by the positive potential, and in response to reversal of a voltage across the inductor, collapsing the first field to draw charge from the gate.

A circuit arrangement for controlling a transistor with an insulated gate, a gate driver for generating a driver signal, and a capacitor parallel to the gate-source path of the transistor, wherein the gate driver is designed for generating a driver signal greater than or equal to zero volts, an inductor is provided for forming a resonant circuit with the capacitor, and a switching element is provided in the resonant circuit, which is designed for interrupting the resonant circuit after recharging the capacitor. The part of the circuit arrangement downstream of the gate driver is designed for exclusive voltage supply using the driver signal of the gate driver, and the switching element is formed by an additional transistor, a first freewheeling diode is arranged parallel to the switching element, and the inductor of the resonant circuit is arranged between the additional transistor and the gate of the transistor.

A switching system includes a control circuit that receives On-Off signals indicative of a desired operating state of a switch. The control circuit includes an oscillator that generates a first electrical pulse responsive having a first signal characteristic or a second signal characteristic that is determined by the received On-Off signal, which may be related to a frequency or duty cycle of the pulse. A pulse transformer connected to the oscillator receives the first electrical pulse and outputs a second electrical pulse having the same one of the first signal characteristic and the second signal characteristic as the first electrical pulse. A pulse detection circuit in the control circuit receives the second electrical pulse, determines whether the second electrical pulse has the first signal characteristic or the second signal characteristic, and controls transmission of power and control signals to the switch based on this determination.

A circuit arrangement for controlling a transistor with an insulated gate, a gate driver for generating a driver signal, and a capacitor parallel to the gate-source path of the transistor, wherein the gate driver is designed for generating a driver signal greater than or equal to zero volts, an inductor is provided for forming a resonant circuit with the capacitor, and a switching element is provided in the resonant circuit, which is designed for interrupting the resonant circuit after recharging the capacitor. The part of the circuit arrangement downstream of the gate driver is designed for exclusive voltage supply using the driver signal of the gate driver, and the switching element is formed by an additional transistor, a first freewheeling diode is arranged parallel to the switching element, and the inductor of the resonant circuit is arranged between the additional transistor and the gate of the transistor.