Patent ID: 11881771
Assignee: NXP USA, INC.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 12:
13. A method of operating a half-bridge power circuit, wherein the half-bridge power circuit comprises a high-side switch connected between a power supply and a half-bridge node, and a low-side switch connected between the high-side switch and ground; wherein the method comprises:
a measurement circuit connected to the half-bridge node and measuring a half-bridge voltage at the half-bridge node, and generating a multi-bit status signal indicative of the measured half-bridge voltage, wherein generating a multi-bit status signal comprises:
the measurement circuit comparing the half-bridge voltage with a first reference voltage, and generating a first bit of the status signal indicative of whether the half-bridge voltage is higher than the first reference voltage;
the measurement circuit comparing the half-bridge voltage with at least a second reference voltage, and generating a second bit of the status signal indicative of whether the half-bridge voltage is higher than the second reference voltage; and
the measurement circuit providing the first bit and at least the second bit as the status signal;

a controller circuit connected to the measurement circuit and generating at least a delay control signal based on the status signal;
a high-side delay circuit connected to the controller circuit and generating a high-side control signal using the delay control signal, wherein the high-side switch is switched on/off depending on the high-side control signal;
a low-side delay circuit connected to the controller circuit and generating a low-side control signal using the delay control signal, wherein the low-side switch is switched on/off depending on the low-side control signal; and
the half-bridge node providing the half-bridge voltage of the half-bridge power circuit.