Patent ID: 9733296
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: G01R,H02H,H03K

Claim:
1. A low-side (LS) output pre-driver having a short-circuit-to-battery fault detection scheme for a MOSFET switch having a drain connection to a load connected to a battery voltage and a source connection tied to ground, the LS output pre-driver including: a comparator having a first input, a second input, and an output, wherein the first input of the comparator is configured to receive a voltage indicative of the voltage at the drain connection; a reference voltage selector configured to output one of a plurality of reference voltage signals to the second input of the comparator; a multi-phase blank/filter having an input connection and an output connection, and wherein the multi-phase blank/filter is configured to blank an incoming signal received from the comparator output during a plurality of time intervals, and a multi-phase control timer having a first timer output connection and a second timer output connection, and wherein the first timer output connection is configured to send a first signal to the reference voltage selector and the second timer output connection is configured to send a second signal to the multi-phase blank/filter; and wherein the first signal of the multi-phase control timer instructs the reference voltage selector to select which of the plurality of reference voltage signals is provided to the second input of the comparator, and the second signal of the multi-phase control timer instructs the multi-phase blank/filter to change from one of the plurality of time intervals to another of the plurality of time intervals.