BCD Current Clamp Circuit for Short-Circuit Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies lack a current clamp circuit specifically designed for BCD technology, which is essential for protecting high-voltage, high-current products from uncontrolled current and heat damage due to short circuits.
Innovation Solution
A current clamp circuit based on BCD technology is developed, comprising a current-outputting circuit, an output-current-sensing circuit, and a current clamp circuit, utilizing low-voltage PMOS tubes and high-voltage LDPMOS tubes to sense and control output current, with amplifiers and reference current sources to manage and clamp the current effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a current clamp circuit is needed for high-voltage, high-current products to prevent short circuit damage, then product reliability improves, but device complexity increases because no suitable circuit design existed for BCD technology
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines low-voltage PMOS tubes and high-voltage LDPMOS tubes into a unified current clamp circuit designed for BCD technology, merging protection functions with the existing high-voltage, high-current product architecture to achieve reliability improvement without excessive complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces high-voltage LDPMOS tubes as intermediary elements that isolate the low-voltage core circuit from high-voltage conditions, enabling protection functionality while maintaining circuit simplicity through controlled isolation
2Reliability
If high-voltage LDPMOS tubes are used for isolation to protect low-voltage core circuits, then circuit protection improves, but device area increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies high-voltage LDPMOS tubes only in specific isolation locations where protection is most critical, rather than throughout the entire circuit, thereby achieving effective protection with minimized chip area occupation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent nests the low-voltage core circuit within the high-voltage isolation structure, allowing the protection mechanism to encompass the sensitive circuit in a compact hierarchical arrangement that reduces overall area
Data Source
AI summary
A current clamp circuit based on BCD technology includes a current-outputting circuit, an output-current-sensing circuit, and a current clamp circuit. The current-outputting circuit outputs a current to the output-current-sensing circuit. The output-current-sensing circuit senses the output current. When the current actually output by the current-outputting circuit is greater than a clamp current, the current clamp circuit outputs a current clamp feedback control signal to the current-outputting circuit, so as to clamp the output current clamp at a set value.