Low Voltage Drop Bridge Rectifier Driving Circuit
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bridge rectifiers experience efficiency losses due to significant voltage drops at low voltage applications, necessitating a solution to minimize voltage drops and enhance efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A bridge rectifier design incorporating two high side diodes and two low side switches, with a driving circuit that provides controlled driving signals to the low side switches, limiting the voltage to prevent excessive conductive resistance and reduce voltage drops, thereby improving efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If conventional bridge rectifiers with diodes are used, then the rectifier can handle high voltage applications, but the voltage drops on the diodes result in low efficiency at low voltage applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the key parameter from diode-based conduction to MOSFET-based conduction. By using MOSFETs with controlled gate voltages, the on-resistance can be made very low, significantly reducing voltage drops compared to conventional diodes, especially at low voltage applications where diode forward voltage drops represent a large portion of the total voltage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic control of the MOSFET gate voltages through a driving circuit that provides time-varying drive signals. This allows the MOSFETs to be dynamically switched on and off, and their conductive states to be optimized in real-time, enabling very low voltage drops during conduction while maintaining proper rectifier operation.
2Reliability
If the driving voltage is increased to improve switch conduction, then the conductive resistance decreases, but the voltage drop across the switch increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a driving circuit as an intermediary between the control signal and the MOSFET gate. This driving circuit generates optimized gate drive voltages that are sufficient to achieve very low on-resistance without causing excessive voltage drops. The driving circuit acts as a mediator that translates control signals into appropriate voltage levels for optimal MOSFET conduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent carefully controls the gate-source voltage parameter of the MOSFETs through the driving circuit. By optimizing this voltage parameter, the MOSFETs operate in their optimal conduction region, achieving minimal on-resistance. The driving circuit ensures the gate voltage is high enough to fully enhance the MOSFET channel conductivity while preventing excessive voltage drops across the device.
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments of the present circuit and method disclose a bridge rectifier and a driving circuit. The bridge rectifier having a first input, a second input, a first output, and a second output may comprise two high side diodes and two low side switches. The driving circuit may be coupled to the first input of the bridge rectifier and the second input of the bridge rectifier, and the driving circuit may be configured to provide a first driving signal and a second driving signal. The first driving signal may be coupled to a first low side switch and the second driving signal may be coupled to a second low side switch. The first driving signal may be limited to less than a first predetermined driving voltage and the second driving signal may be limited to less than a second predetermined driving voltage.