An active-clamp flyback converter is provided with improved active-clamp switch control that switches on an active-clamp switch at an active-clamp switch on-time that equals a power switch on-time minus a peak charge time for an active-clamp capacitor. The peak charge time is the duration between the switching off of the power switch transistor and when the charging current through the active-clamp capacitor falls to zero. The controller measures this peak charge time following the switching off of the power switch transistor and then applies it to the subsequent switching on of the active-clamp switch so that the active-clamp switch is switched on at the power switch on-time minus the peak charge time.

A power module includes N inverter units outputting N AC voltages and being coupled to N high-frequency AC terminals, wherein the N high-frequency AC terminals are cascaded and connected to a post-stage rectifier circuit. A phase-shift control method for the power module includes: setting at least two phase-shift sequences, wherein phase sequence numbers of the N AC voltages of the N inverter units are different in the at least two phase-shift sequences; in one switching period, controlling the N AC voltages of the N inverter units to shift a first angle according to a first phase-shift sequence of the at least two phase-shift sequences; and in another switching period, controlling the N AC voltages of the N inverter units to shift the first angle according to a second phase-shift sequence of the at least two phase-shift sequences.

An embodiment provides a circuit including a transformer having a primary winding coupled to an input port configured to receive an input voltage and a secondary winding configured to provide an output voltage at an output port, controller circuitry configured to switch on and off a current through the primary winding so that energy is transferred to the secondary winding while switching and supply circuitry connected to the controller circuitry, wherein the supply circuitry is coupled to an auxiliary winding of the transformer and configured to provide a supply voltage for the controller circuitry. The controller circuitry is further configured to: transition to a burst mode to switch on and off the current through the primary winding in first bursts, wherein the first bursts are separated by intervals during which switching on and off the current through the primary winding of the transformer by the first bursts is discontinued and provide second bursts during the intervals in order to keep the supply voltage of the controller circuitry between a lower bound value and an upper bound value while the output voltage ramps down to a requested valley value or provide second bursts during the intervals after reaching a timeout limit in order to provide the supply voltage to the controller circuitry while the output voltage ramps down to a requested valley value.

A power supply apparatus includes a transformer including a primary coil, a secondary coil, and an auxiliary coil; a switching element connected in series to the primary coil; a first rectifying/smoothing circuit including a first diode and a first capacitor and configured to rectify and smooth a voltage induced in the auxiliary coil; a second rectifying/smoothing circuit including a second diode and a second capacitor, connected in parallel with the first rectifying/smoothing circuit, and configured to rectify and smooth the voltage induced in the auxiliary coil; and a controller configured to control the switching element. The controller is configured to detect the voltage induced in the auxiliary coil based on an output voltage of the first rectifying/smoothing circuit. A responsiveness of the second diode is better than a responsiveness of the first diode.

One example discloses a switched mode power supply device, comprising: an energy storage device; a controller configured to discharge the energy storage device; a voltage drop device having a first pin coupled to the energy storage device, a second pin coupled to the controller, and a third pin coupled to receive a first power-down signal; wherein the first power-down signal indicates that the energy storage device is to be discharged; wherein the voltage drop device is configured to input a first voltage from the energy storage device on the first pin and output a second voltage to the controller on the second pin; and wherein the second voltage is lower than the first voltage.

An isolated switched-mode power converter converts power from an input source into power for an output load. Power switches within a primary-side power stage control the amount of power input to the power converter and, ultimately, provided to the output load. A digital controller on the secondary side of the power converter generates signals to control the power switches. This controller also senses a rectified voltage on the secondary side of the power converter and uses this sensed voltage to detect fault conditions of the primary side. For example, the sensed rectified voltage is used to detect undervoltage or overvoltage conditions of the input power source of the power converter, or faulty power switches within the primary-side power stage.

A power converter with secondary side regulation (SSR) for driving one or more output loads having capacitors (preferably Y-capacitors) for feedback and data transmission is disclosed. The power converter includes a transformer with primary and secondary windings, a primary circuit, a secondary circuit comprising a secondary controller, and a data transmission circuit comprising a plurality of capacitors. The primary circuit comprises one or more switching means and a primary controller. The secondary circuit is isolated from the primary circuit by the transformer and connected to the output loads and the secondary winding. The data transmission circuit connects the secondary circuit to the primary circuit for transmitting a feedback signal through to become a primary side feedback signal. The capacitors comprises one or more first capacitors on a feedback path and one or more second capacitors on a ground path.

A semiconductor device with enhanced semiconductor characteristics that is useful for power devices. A semiconductor device, including: an n-type semiconductor layer; an electrode; two or more p-type semiconductors provided between the n-type semiconductor layer and the electrode, the n-type semiconductor layer containing a corundum-structured crystallin oxide semiconductor as a major component, a number of the two or more p-type semiconductor that is equal to or more than three, and the two or more p-type semiconductors that are embedded in the n-type semiconductor layer.

A power controller for an LLC resonant converter controls a high-side switch and a low-side switch. An ON-time generator in the power controller determines a high-side ON time of the high-side switch and a low-side ON time of the low-side switch in response to the bigger one between a feedback voltage and a burst voltage, where the feedback voltage is generated in response to an output voltage of the LLC resonant converter. A burst-mode controller in the power controller has a triangular-wave generator providing a triangular-wave signal with an amplitude in association with the burst voltage. A comparator comparing the triangular-wave signal and the feedback voltage to determine a break time when both the high-side and low-side switches are turned OFF. The LLC resonant converter operates in a burst mode when the break time is introduced.

Operating electric power is preferably supplied to a battery assembly control circuit from both a power converting device and a battery module. An electricity storage device includes a battery module including battery cells and a battery assembly control circuit, and a power converting device configured to charge the battery module with a commercial power supply and to supply electric power to a load. The power converting device supplies electric power to the battery assembly control circuit while an output voltage of the power converting device is higher than a predetermined voltage. The battery module starts to supply operating electric power to the battery assembly control circuit upon detecting that the electric power from the power converting device starts to be supplied to the battery assembly control circuit. The battery module stops supplying the electric power to the battery assembly control circuit when the battery module stops being discharged.