A switch including a transistor to be protected, and a Miller effect protection unit including a protection transistor, the drain of the protection transistor being connected to the gate of the transistor to be protected, the source of the protection transistor being connected to the source of the transistor to be protected, a linking circuit, the linking circuit being a high-pass filter arranged between the gate of the protection transistor and the drain of the transistor to be protected, and a control circuit interposed between the gate of the protection transistor and the source of the transistor to be protected.

A power module, including a power element, and a control unit that controls the power element. The control unit includes: a frequency divider circuit that receives a signal for driving the power element and has a frequency dividing function, by which the frequency divider circuit generates an output having a frequency lower than that of the received signal; an overcurrent detection comparator that detects an overcurrent of the power element; an overheat protection warning comparator that outputs a warning signal upon detection of the power element having a temperature higher than a predetermined temperature; and a logic circuit that outputs an enable signal to activate the frequency dividing function of the frequency divider circuit only while the overcurrent detection comparator does not detect the overcurrent and the overheat protection warning comparator outputs the warning signal. The power module further includes an overheat protection alarm comparator that outputs an alarm signal.

To provide a multi-phase power conversion device control circuit capable of preventing switching elements and driver circuits of a multi-phase power conversion device from being damaged even when arm short circuits have occurred to a plurality of phases simultaneously. The control circuit includes: a current detection unit configured to detect a current flowing through the switching element as a voltage value; an overcurrent detection unit configured to, when a voltage value detected by the current detection unit is higher than a first reference voltage, output an individual overcurrent detection signal Scu; and an overcurrent state control unit configured to, when overcurrent state is detected at the current detection unit of each of two or more phases, output a multi-phase overcurrent signal and short-circuit the control terminal of the switching element to an emitter terminal thereof.

Circuits for protecting devices, such as gallium nitride (GaN) devices, and operating methods thereof are described. The circuits monitor a magnitude of the current in a device and reduce the magnitude of the current and/or shut down the device responsive to the magnitude of the current exceeding a threshold. These circuits safeguard devices from damaging operating conditions to prolong the operating life of the protected devices.

An alarm processing circuit includes a plurality of abnormality detection circuits for detecting different abnormalities and outputting alarm signals respectively; a signal conversion circuit for converting the alarm signals outputted from the plurality of abnormality detection circuits into time signals with time widths corresponding to types of the abnormalities respectively; and a determination circuit for determining the types of the abnormalities respectively based on the time widths of the time signals outputted from the signal conversion circuit.

Driver circuitry for driving a power semiconductor switch having a control input and main terminals is described. The driver circuitry includes control terminal driver circuitry coupled to the control input and configured to provide a drive signal, a sense terminal coupled to the main terminal, a current mirror coupled to the sense terminal to mirror a current input into the sense terminal during turn-off, a first current comparator configured to compare a current signal received from the current mirror to a first current threshold and output a first signal representative of the comparison, and a second comparator configured to compare a signal received from the sense terminal to a turn-on threshold and output a second signal representative of the comparison. The turn-on threshold represents a highest voltage of the main terminal during turn-on. The first current threshold represents a highest voltage of the main terminal during turn-off.

A power semiconductor device of the present disclosure includes: a first switching element; a second switching element connected in parallel to the first switching element, and having a higher short circuit capability than the first switching element; drive circuits to drive the first switching element and the second switching element; and determination circuits to compare a target current as a sum of a current flowing through the first switching element and a current flowing through the second switching element to a first threshold and a second threshold greater than the first threshold. The drive circuits switch off the first switching element when the determination circuits determine that the target current is equal to or greater than the first threshold, and switch off the second switching element when the determination circuits determine that the target current is equal to or greater than the second threshold.

A method for validating operation of a driver integrated circuit includes providing a signal using an output node. The signal is provided using multiple set points in response to a change in state of an input signal. Each set point corresponds to a different phase of a multi-phase transition of the signal. The method includes providing a timer value at an end of a phase of the multi-phase transition and determining whether the signal is in a target signal range of the phase based on the timer value at the end of the phase, a predetermined value defining the target signal range of the phase, and a predetermined time limit for the phase. A current through the output node may be provided using the multiple set points, and a voltage on the output node may have the multi-phase transition.

An electronic switch includes switching modules to change a forward resistance of a semiconductor switch via a drive circuit depending on data exchanged via a data interface and depending on measurement values of a current sensor. The semiconductor switches of the switching modules are arranged electrically in parallel and a current through the electronic switch is divided among the semiconductor switches. The electronic switch controls a division of the current through the electronic switch among the semiconductor switches via the drive circuits by changing a forward resistance of the semiconductor switches, synchronously switches the semiconductor switches via the drive circuit and operates the semiconductor switches in a linear region in a time range of 1 μs to 10 μs upon a change between ON and OFF and a change between OFF and ON in such a way that the current through the switching modules is reduced in a controlled manner.

A semiconductor device includes: a semiconductor region having charge carriers of a first conductivity type; a transistor cell in the semiconductor region; a semiconductor channel region in the transistor cell and having a first doping concentration of charge carriers of a second conductivity type, wherein a transition between the semiconductor channel region and the semiconductor region forms a first pn-junction; a semiconductor auxiliary region in the semiconductor region and having a second doping concentration of charge carriers of the second conductivity type. A transition between the semiconductor auxiliary region and semiconductor region forms a second pn-junction positioned deeper in the semiconductor region as compared to the first pn-junction. The semiconductor auxiliary region is positioned closest to the semiconductor channel region as compared to any other semiconductor region having charge carriers of the second conductivity type and that forms a further pn-junction with the semiconductor region.