Patent ID: 7173438

Claim:
A method for determining capacitance of a capacitor, the method comprising: alternately charging a capacitor to a first voltage and discharging the capacitor to a second voltage, wherein charging the capacitor to the first voltage comprises applying a charging voltage to the capacitor; generating an output signal having a frequency that is a function of a time period, the time period selected from the group consisting of: a) a time period needed to charge the capacitor from the second voltage to the first voltage; and b) a time period needed to discharge the capacitor from the first voltage to the second voltage; determining the capacitance based on the frequency of the output signal; and selecting the first voltage, the second voltage, and the charging voltage such that when at least one of the first voltage, the second voltage, and the charging voltage is applied to the capacitor, a semiconductor component operatively coupled to the capacitor is not turned on.