A technique is provided for detecting decoupling of a first connector part, connected to a first device, of an electrical plug connector from a second connector part, connected to a second device, of the electrical plug connector. A corresponding method, a corresponding apparatus, a corresponding electrical plug connector as well as the first connector part and the second connector part of the plug connector, a corresponding device and a computer program product are stated.

A semiconductor device for limiting inrush current in hot-swap applications includes a power transistor and a current sensing circuit. The power transistor has a first terminal, a second terminal and a control terminal, wherein the first terminal is configured to receive an input voltage from a power supply, the second terminal is configured to provide an output voltage to a load, the control terminal is configured to receive a control voltage. Under regulation of the control voltage, the output voltage increases gradually towards the input voltage during a startup period and becomes substantially equal to the input voltage in a steady state. The current sensing circuit senses the current flowing through the power transistor and generates a current sensing signal. In order to achieve current balance, the control voltage is adjusted based on the relationship between the current sensing signal and current sensing signals of other semiconductor devices connected in parallel with the semiconductor device.

A method and circuit for a power supply unit (PSU) suitable for use in an information handling system to detect an inrush current reaching an inrush current threshold, to fully turning off, by a control circuit of the PSU, a series transistor to block the inrush current, to transfer, while the series transistor is fully turned off, magnetic energy stored in a boost choke to a bulk capacitor, and to fully turn on, by the control circuit of the PSU, the series transistor again immediately after the series transistor was in a fully turned off state, wherein the fully turning on occurs after the magnetic energy stored in the boost choke has been transferred to the bulk capacitor.

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a power supply module, a system load, a soft start unit, a unidirectional conducting unit and a connector. The system load is electrically coupled with the power supply module. The soft start unit is electrically coupled with the system load and the power supply module. The unidirectional conducting unit is electrically coupled between the soft start unit and the power supply module, so as to prevent the energy from the power supply module from entering the soft start unit. The connector has a power input terminal. The power input terminal is electrically coupled with the soft start unit.

A protection circuit is provided with: a suppression element that is coupled to a power source side of a main circuit and suppresses current flowing into the main circuit that drives a load; and a soft start circuit that is configured to gradually increase voltage of a control terminal of the suppression element when voltage is applied to the soft start circuit from a boosting circuit used for controlling the main circuit.

Techniques are provided to control hotswap operations with programmable logic devices (PLDs). In particular, a MOSFET is provided to limit an in-rush current drawn from a power supply by capacitive components of an electronic assembly when it is plugged into the live, power supply. A controller with an algorithm is provided to control the MOSFET based on the in-rush current detected at the MOSFET. As such, a feedback control loop is established to selectively bias the gate of the MOSFET based on the detected in-rush current. The algorithm may limit the in-rush current based on a Safe Operating Area (SOA) of the MOSFET. The hotswap process may include multiple phases each with a voltage and/or current limit modeling the voltages and currents of the SOA. The algorithm may transition through the phases with the respective current and/or voltage limits during the hotswap process.

An electronic fuse (e-fuse) for controlling input current of a load includes a transistor switch and a transorb device that is coupled in parallel to the transistor switch between a source and a drain of the transistor switch. A circuit comprising the transistor switch and the transorb device in parallel comprises a first end and a second end. The first end of the circuit is coupled to a power bus. The second end of the circuit is coupled to a first node of the load. The e-fuse includes an RC circuit comprising a resistor coupled in series with a first capacitor. The RC circuit is coupled between the power bus at the first end of the circuit and a return. The return is coupled to a second node of the load. The e-fuse includes a second capacitor that is coupled between the return and the second end of the circuit.

An assembly to contain energy from arc flash within a mounting slot of an equipment rack includes a valve panel assembly including a first valve panel body secured to the frame members by a first hinge and a second valve panel body secured to the frame members by a second hinge. The first valve panel body and the second valve panel body are configured to rotate between closed positions and open positions. A method of assembling a system to contain energy from arc flash within a mounting slot of an equipment rack is further disclosed.

Techniques are described to slow the turn off of a pass transistor coupled to an inductive load and being controlled by a hot swap or switch controller in the event of a fault on the load side. Active circuitry can control the gate of the pass transistor, e.g., field-effect transistor (FET), as the inductive load de-energizes and a feedback loop can servo the gate voltage of the pass transistor in order to ensure that its source does not go below a reference voltage.

The invention relates to a method for operating a sensor arrangement (2) in a motor vehicle (1) on the basis of a DSI protocol in a Power Function Class mode, wherein the sensor arrangement (2) has a central unit (3) and a multiplicity of sensor units (S.sub.1, S.sub.2, . . . , S.sub.N), the central unit and the sensor units are connected to one another in series by means of a bus cable (4), the sensor units each have a test resistor (R.sub.S1, R.sub.S2, . . . , R.sub.N) connected in series with the bus cable, an electrical test load (L.sub.1, L.sub.2, . . . , L.sub.N) that can be connected to the bus cable, and an address counter (A.sub.1, A.sub.2, . . . , A.sub.N), having the following steps: transferring information between the central unit (Z) and the sensor units by means of a predetermined lower voltage (V.sub.LOW-PWR) and a predetermined upper voltage (V.sub.HIGH-PWR) as the respective bus voltage (U.sub.Bus) in communication phases, supplying the sensor units with electrical energy by means of the central unit in energy supply phases in which an idle voltage (V.sub.IDLE) is applied as the bus voltage, which is at least 1 V greater than the upper voltage, assigning a respective address to the individual sensor units in a previous address assignment phase by means of an address assignment voltage as the bus voltage, which is at least 1 V greater than the upper voltage.