Patent ID: 8848330

Claim:
An electronic circuit, comprising: an electronic switch integrated in a semiconductor body and having a control terminal; and a drive circuit coupled to the control terminal and comprising a temperature protection circuit, the temperature protection circuit comprising: a first temperature sensor having a first sensor element located at a first position on the semiconductor body, the first temperature sensor configured to provide a first temperature signal that is representative of a temperature at the first position; and a temperature propagation detection circuit that is configured to continuously detect a temperature difference between two regions in the semiconductor body and that is configured to provide a temperature propagation signal based on the temperature difference; wherein the temperature protection circuit is configured to switch the electronic switch off, when the temperature at the first position rises above a first threshold; the first threshold is dependent on the temperature propagation signal based on the temperature difference; the temperature propagation detection circuit further comprises a second temperature sensor, the second temperature sensor having a second sensor element located at a second position remote to the first position and the second temperature sensor configured to provide a second temperature signal that is representative of a temperature at the second position; the temperature propagation detection circuit is configured to generate the temperature propagation signal dependent on a difference between the first temperature signal and the second temperature signal; and the temperature protection circuit is configured to decrease the first threshold when the difference between the first temperature signal and the second temperature signal increases and/or when the difference between the first temperature signal and the second temperature signal rises above a temperature difference threshold.