Patent ID: 8190934

Claim:
A solid state power controller possessing a power connector, a load connector and at least one communication connector, comprising: a solid state switch electrically connectable between the power connector and the load connector, where the switch includes an input; a microcontroller coupled to the input of the solid state switch; and current sensing circuitry coupled to the microcontroller and configured to sense a current flowing through the solid state switch, the current sensing circuitry comprising an amplifier having an offset error; wherein the current sensing circuitry is configured to: generate a signal indicative of the current flowing through the solid state switch; and bias the generated signal to a predetermined level to substantially eliminate the offset error in the amplifier; wherein the microcontroller comprises an analog to digital converter having an offset error; wherein the current sensing circuitry is configured to bias the generated signal to a predetermined level in order to substantially eliminate the offset error in the amplifier and the offset error in the analog to digital converter; wherein the analog to digital converter is configured to convert the generated signal into a digital signal; and wherein the microcontroller is configured to compensate for the bias by subtracting the predetermined level from a magnitude of the digital signal.