Patent ID: 7177125

Claim:
An apparatus for arc fault protection in an electrical power distribution system of a vehicle, said power distribution system including a plurality of solid state power switching devices for switching on/off power to corresponding loads and further including a solid state power switching device controller for distributing switching control signals to said solid state power switching devices, said apparatus comprising: a load current input arranged to obtain a measurement of current being supplied to a load via a solid state power switching device of said electrical power distribution system; a load signature input arranged to obtain reference steady state and transient characteristics of the load supplied current waveforms, thereby obtaining a load signature, said load signature being a function of characteristics of said load being supplied current via said solid state power switching device and operating conditions of said solid state power switching device; and an arc fault detector arranged to determine a switching state of said solid state power switching device and to compare said measured load current with said load signature as a function of the determined switching state of said solid state power switching device, said arc fault detector outputting an arc fault indication signal when said measured current is outside an allowable range of said load signature.