Granted Patent B2

US 12,671,397 · App. 18/918,748 · Granted Jun 30, 2026

Inventors: Kevin Roland Deters (Andover, MN); Philip Alan Bailey (Marine on St. Croix, MN)

Assignee: Micro Control Company

H03K3/017G01R31/2863G01R31/3004G05F1/46G05F1/66H02J1/10

Abstract

Claims (64)

1 . A power regulator for a testing stage of a semiconductor burn-in board comprising:

a plurality of power supplies, each power supply comprising:

a pulse width modulator controller configured to produce a pulse width modulator control signal based on a current error input;

a pulse width modulator configured to produce a power output based on the pulse width modulator control signal;

a power control circuit configured to output a measured error signal based on a difference between a measured parameter of the power output and a parameter setpoint; and

an error signal selector configured to output as the current error input either the measured error signal or the measured error signal received from one of the other power supplies based on a control select signal; and

a power regulator controller configured to issue the control select signals to the power supplies based on a power mode.

2 . The power regulator according to claim 1 , wherein the power regulator is configured to selectively couple the power outputs from two or more of the power supplies in parallel based on the power mode.

3 . The power regulator according to claim 2 , wherein each power control circuit includes a programmable voltage control circuit configured to affect the measured error signal based on a measured voltage and a target voltage.

4 . The power regulator according to claim 3 , wherein:

each programmable voltage control circuit includes an adjustable resistance having a plurality of resistance values that affect the measured error signal; and

the controller is configured to set the resistance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of resistance values based on the power mode.

5 . The power regulator circuit according to claim 4 , wherein:

each programmable voltage control circuit includes at least one digital potentiometer having the plurality of resistance values; and

the controller is configured to set the at least one digital potentiometer to one of the plurality of resistance values based on the power mode.

6 . The power regulator according to claim 3 , wherein:

each programmable voltage control circuit includes an adjustable capacitance having a plurality of capacitance values that affect the measured error signal; and

the controller is configured to set the capacitance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of capacitance values based on the power mode.

7 . The power regulator according to claim 6 , wherein:

each programmable voltage control circuit includes:

a plurality of first capacitors each having a different capacitance;

a plurality of second capacitors each having a different capacitance; and

a coupling circuit configured to selectively connect any one of the first capacitors in parallel with any one of the second capacitors to provide the plurality of capacitance values; and

the controller is configured to set the capacitance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of capacitance values through control of the coupling circuit based on the power mode.

8 . The power regulator according to claim 3 , wherein:

each programmable voltage control circuit includes an adjustable resistance having a plurality of resistance values and an adjustable capacitance having a plurality of capacitance values that affect the measured error signal; and

the controller is configured to set the resistance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of resistance values and set the capacitance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of capacitance values based on the power mode.

9 . The power regulator according to claim 8 , wherein the programmable voltage control circuit is in the form of a type II error amplifier.

10 . The power regulator according to claim 9 , wherein the power supplies are supported on a power regulator board that is attached to a burn-in board.

11 . A method of operating a power regulator for a testing stage of a semiconductor burn-in board, the power regulator comprising:

a plurality of power supplies, each power supply comprising:

a pulse width modulator controller;

a pulse width modulator;

a power control circuit; and

an error signal selector; and

a power regulator controller,

the method comprising:

sending a control select signal to each of the plurality of power supplies based on a power mode using the power regulator controller; and

at each power supply:

producing a pulse width modulator control signal based on an error input using the pulse width modulator controller;

producing a power output based on the pulse width modulator control signal using the pulse width modulator;

outputting a measured error signal based on a difference between a measured parameter of the power output and a parameter setpoint using the power control circuit; and

outputting as the error input to the pulse width modulator controller either the measured error signal or the measured error signal received from one of the other power supplies based on the control select signal using the error signal selector.

12 . The method according to claim 11 , including connecting two or more of the power outputs from the plurality of power supplies in parallel based on the power mode.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein:

each power control circuit includes a programmable voltage control circuit; and

the method includes affecting the measured error signal output by the power control circuit based on a measured voltage and a target voltage using the programmable voltage control circuit.

14 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein:

each programmable voltage control circuit includes an adjustable resistance having a plurality of resistance values that affect the measured error signal; and

the method includes setting the resistance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of resistance values based on the power mode using the power regulator controller.

15 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein:

each programmable voltage control circuit includes an adjustable capacitance having a plurality of capacitance values that affect the measured error signal; and

the method includes setting the capacitance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of capacitance values based on the power mode using the power regulator controller.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein:

each programmable voltage control circuit includes:

a plurality of first capacitors each having a different capacitance;

a plurality of second capacitors each having a different capacitance; and

a coupling circuit configured to selectively connect any one of the first capacitors in parallel with any one of the second capacitors to provide the plurality of capacitance values; and

setting the capacitance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of capacitance values comprises controlling the coupling circuit of each programmable voltage control circuit based on the power mode.

17 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein:

each programmable voltage control circuit includes an adjustable resistance having a plurality of resistance values and an adjustable capacitance having a plurality of capacitance values that affect the measured error signal; and

the method includes setting the resistance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of resistance values and setting the capacitance of each programmable voltage control circuit to one of the plurality of capacitance values based on the power mode.

18 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the programmable voltage control circuit is in the form of a type II error amplifier.

19 . The method according to claim 18 , wherein the power supplies are supported on a power regulator board that is attached to a burn-in board.

Continuity (2)

References Cited (144)