Granted Patent B2

US 12,411,534 · App. 18/366,895 · Granted Sep 9, 2025

Inventor: Dieter Jozef Joos (Nieuwenrode, BE)

Assignee: SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC

G06F1/28G06F1/30

Abstract

Claims (59)

1. A method for operating a power supply, the method comprising:

determining a voltage of a power rail provided to a load device from the power supply;

detecting that the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to an over-voltage threshold;

incrementing an over-voltage counter when the voltage of the power rail is detected as being greater than or equal to the over-voltage threshold;

detecting that the over-voltage counter is equal to a threshold value; and

generating an interrupt signal when the over-voltage counter is detected as being equal to the threshold value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold value is a first threshold value, and wherein the method further comprises:

detecting that the voltage of the power rail is less than or equal to an under-voltage threshold;

incrementing an under-voltage counter when the voltage of the power rail is detected as being less than or equal to the under-voltage threshold;

detecting that the under-voltage counter is equal to a second threshold value; and

generating the interrupt signal when the under-voltage counter is detected as being equal to the second threshold value.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining a first moving average of over-voltage events for the power rail;

determining a second moving average of under-voltage events for the power rail; and

determining an average value of the voltage of the power rail based on the first moving average and the second moving average.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the over-voltage threshold is a first over-voltage threshold, and wherein the method further comprises:

detecting that the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to a second over-voltage threshold, wherein the second over-voltage threshold is greater than the first over-voltage threshold, and

generating a shutdown signal when the voltage of the power rail is detected as being greater than or equal to the second over-voltage threshold.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending a value of the over-voltage counter when the interrupt signal is generated; and

resetting the over-voltage counter to a minimum value after the value of the over-voltage counter is sent.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising resetting the over-voltage counter to a minimum value when the voltage of the power rail is not detected as being greater than or equal to the over-voltage threshold.

7. A power monitor, comprising:

a voltage fault detector configured to:

determine a voltage of a power rail provided to a load device from a power supply, and

detect when the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to an over-voltage threshold; and

a controller configured to:

increment an over-voltage counter when the voltage fault detector detects that the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to the over-voltage threshold, and

generate an interrupt signal when the over-voltage counter is equal to a threshold value.

8. The power monitor of claim 7 , wherein the threshold value is a first threshold value, wherein the voltage fault detector is further configured to detect when the voltage of the power rail is less than or equal to an under-voltage threshold, and wherein the controller is further configured to:

increment an under-voltage counter when the voltage fault detector detects that the voltage of the power rail is less than or equal to the under-voltage threshold, and

generate the interrupt signal when the under-voltage counter is equal to a second threshold value.

9. The power monitor of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine a first moving average of over-voltage events for the power rail,

determine a second moving average of under-voltage events for the power rail, and

determine an average value of the voltage of the power rail based on the first moving average and the second moving average.

10. The power monitor of claim 7 , wherein the over-voltage threshold is a first over-voltage threshold, wherein the voltage fault detector is further configured to detect when the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to a second over-voltage threshold, wherein the second over-voltage threshold is greater than the first over-voltage threshold, and wherein the controller is further configured to generate a shutdown signal when the voltage fault detector detects that the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to the second over-voltage threshold.

11. The power monitor of claim 7 , wherein the voltage fault detector includes a fast analog comparator.

12. The power monitor of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to reset the over-voltage counter to a minimum value when the voltage fault detector does not detect that the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to the over-voltage threshold.

13. The power monitor of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to decrement the over-voltage counter when:

the voltage fault detector does not detect that the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to the over-voltage threshold, and

the over-voltage counter is greater than a minimum value.

14. A power supply circuit, comprising:

a power supply configured to provide a power rail to a load device; and

a power monitor configured to:

detect when a voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to an over-voltage threshold,

increment an over-voltage counter each time the power monitor detects that the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to the over-voltage threshold, and

generate an interrupt signal when the over-voltage counter is equal to a threshold value.

15. The power supply circuit of claim 14 , further comprising a safety controller configured to:

receive the interrupt signal,

read-out a value of the over-voltage counter from the power monitor when the interrupt signal is received, and

reset the over-voltage counter to a minimum value after the value of the over-voltage counter is read-out.

16. The power supply circuit of claim 15 , wherein the safety controller is further configured to adjust a target voltage of the power rail based on the value of the over-voltage counter.

17. The power supply circuit of claim 15 , wherein the power supply is a system power supply, and wherein the power supply circuit further comprises a safety power supply configured to provide power to the safety controller independent of the system power supply.

18. The power supply circuit of claim 14 , wherein the power monitor is further configured to reset the over-voltage counter when the power monitor does not detect that the voltage of the power rail is greater than or equal to the over-voltage threshold.

19. The power supply circuit of claim 18 , wherein the threshold value is a first threshold value, and wherein the power monitor is further configured to:

detect when the over-voltage counter is equal to a second threshold value, wherein the second threshold value is greater than the first threshold value, and

generate a shutdown signal when the power monitor detects that the over-voltage counter is equal to the second threshold value.

20. The power supply circuit of claim 14 , wherein the load device includes a System-on-a-Chip (SoC) device.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (9)