Patent ID: 9425784
Filing Date: 2016-08-23
CPC Classification: H03K

Claim Text:
1. A circuit comprising: a power transistor with a drive terminal and a load path, the power transistor being integrated in a first semiconductor body; a first sensor arrangement having a sensor transistor integrated in the first semiconductor body and an evaluation circuit, the sensor transistor having a load path between a drain terminal and a source terminal, and a gate terminal directly connected to the drain terminal, the evaluation circuit having only two connections to the sensor transistor, a first connection to the drain terminal and a second connection to the source terminal of the sensor transistor such that the evaluation circuit receives a load path voltage across the drain and source terminals of the sensor transistor that corresponds to a threshold voltage of the sensor transistor and providing a first sensor signal dependent on the load path voltage that corresponds to the threshold voltage of the sensor transistor; and a drive circuit to which the first sensor signal is supplied and that is configured to drive the power transistor via its drive terminal as a function of the first sensor signal.