Patent ID: 6967519

Claim:
A drive circuit for driving a power semiconductor device, comprising: a switching circuit receiving an input control signal for ON/OFF switching of the power semiconductor device; a sampling signal generating circuit for detecting the input control signal and outputting, when the input control signal commands OFF, a sampling signal substantially at starting of a Miller time period of the power semiconductor device; a gate voltage detecting circuit connected to a gate line of the power semiconductor device for detecting a Miller voltage of the power semiconductor device when the sampling signal is input to the gate voltage detecting circuit and outputting, when the Miller voltage is at least equal to a threshold, an over-current detection signal; and a gate voltage controlling circuit connected to the gate line of the power semiconductor device for controlling, in response to the over-current detection signal from the gate voltage detecting circuit, gate voltage of the power semiconductor device so that the power semiconductor device is turned OFF more slowly than when no over-current detection signal is output.