Disclosed is a device for recognizing an arcing fault in incident light that includes a sensor for detecting absorption lines of the incident light, and an evaluation unit which generates an evaluation signal when characteristic absorption lines are detected.

Provided is a method and system that includes a direct current solid state power controller that includes a plurality of switching devices connected in parallel for performing switching, one or more main transient voltage suppressors (TVSs) to perform voltage clamping, a plurality of parasitic inductances each connected in series with a switching device of the plurality of switching devices, and a plurality of local TVSs each connected in parallel with a series connection of a switching device and at least one parasitic inductor of the plurality of parasitic inductances, to dissipate energy stored within the at least one parasitic inductor of the plurality of parasitic inductances.

A power distribution system includes a solid state power controller (SSPC). The SSPC includes a microcontroller having at least one voltage sense input. The microcontroller is configured to selectively allow a current through the SSPC in response to a common mode voltage to ground and/or a SSPC differential voltage meeting or exceeding a respective pre-determined threshold. A method of operating a SSPC includes determining whether at least one of a common mode voltage to ground or a SSPC differential voltage meet or exceed a respective pre-determined threshold. The method includes selectively allowing a current through the SSPC in response to at least one of the common mode voltage to ground or the SSPC differential voltage meeting or exceeding the respective pre-determined threshold.

A failure diagnosis system according to an embodiment includes a first power line, a second power line, a first main contact, a second main contact, a first electrical component, a second electrical component, and a control device. The first electrical component includes a first terminal electrically connected to a second part of the first power line and a second terminal electrically connected to a third part of the second power line. A state of the first electrical component is to be switched in a case where a voltage is applied between the first terminal and the second terminal. The control device is configured to determine whether an abnormality of the first main contact exists or not based on output of a control instruction relating to the first main contact and the state of the first electrical component.

According to an aspect, a switch circuit for a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector device includes a main transistor configured to be activated during a normal operation of the switch circuit, a first voltage generator circuit configured to generate a voltage on a high local rail during an overvoltage event, a second voltage generator circuit configured to generate a voltage on a low local rail during the overvoltage event, where the low local rail is connected to a bulk of the main transistor, and a clamp circuit connected to the high local rail between the first voltage generator circuit and a gate of the main transistor, where the clamp circuit is configured to clamp the voltage between the high local rail and the gate of the main transistor during the overvoltage event.

An electrical circuit breaker system including an input terminal connecting an electrical current source and a plurality of output terminals for connecting electrical loads. Each output terminal includes an electrical switch and a current measuring unit. The circuit breaker system includes a current acquiring unit for acquiring current magnitudes measured at the output terminals and for determining a total current magnitude. A temperature acquiring unit acquires a temperature, and a computing unit is configured to determine a total current limit as a function of the acquired temperature. Further, a control unit is configured to select one of the plurality of output terminals based on a ranking of the output terminals and to interrupt the current supply at the selected output terminal by means of the corresponding electrical switch when the total current magnitude exceeds the determined total current limit.

An over-current protection circuit for limiting a power current flowing through a switch device, which generates the power current according to a control signal of a control node, is provided. The over current control circuit includes a voltage control circuit, a current sense unit, a conversion circuit, and a control switch. The voltage control circuit provides the control signal to a gate terminal of the switch device according to a limit signal. The current sense unit senses the power current flowing through the switch device to generate a sense voltage. The conversion circuit converts the sense voltage into a conversion voltage. The control switch generates the limit signal according to the conversion voltage.

A gate-driving circuit for turning on and off a switch device having a gate terminal, a drain terminal, and a source terminal coupled to a reference node is provided. The gate-driving circuit includes a controller and a waveform conversion circuit. The controller includes a first switch supplying a high voltage level to a first node, a second switch coupling the first node to a low voltage level of the reference node, and a third switch coupling a second node to the low voltage level. The second node is coupled to the gate terminal. When the first switch is turned on for the first time during startup, the third switch is turned on simultaneously. The waveform conversion circuit includes a first resistor coupled between the first node and the second node and a first capacitor coupled between the first node and the second node.

A gate-driving circuit for turning on and off a switch device including a gate terminal coupled to a driving node, a drain terminal coupled to a power node, and a source terminal is provided. The gate-driving circuit includes a driving switch and a voltage control circuit. The driving switch includes a gate terminal coupled to a control node, a drain terminal coupled to the power node, and a source terminal coupled to the driving node. The voltage control circuit is coupled between the control node and the driving node. When a positive pulse is generated at the control node, the voltage control circuit provides the positive pulse to the driving node with a time delay.

A safety switching device for the fail-safe disconnection of an external consumer has an internal consumer and switching elements for connecting in parallel the internal consumer with the external consumer. Read-back taps are arranged between the switching elements, a first and second pole of the external consumer, and the internal consumer. A signal processing unit includes a testing device and a memory, in which a first error pattern set is stored. The testing device is coupled to the read-back taps and executes a switching test having a minimum of three temporally-separated test intervals. In each test interval, the testing device receives a read-back signal from each read-back tap in order to generate a first test pattern. To identify a fault, the testing device matches the first test pattern with the first error pattern set.