Integrated overcurrent protection system for class-D audio power amplifiers

Author

Berkhout, Marco

Author_Institution

Philips Semicond. Nijmegen, Netherlands

Volume

40

Issue

11

fYear

2005

Firstpage

2237

Lastpage

2245

Abstract

A fully integrated overcurrent protection system is presented suitable for application in integrated class-D audio power amplifiers. Accurate overcurrent detection is used based on parallel measurement of the voltage drop across the DMOS power transistors. A logic circuit enables continuous current limiting during overload situations. Actual short circuits can be distinguished from load impedance minima using a simple short-circuit discrimination method.

Keywords

audio-frequency amplifiers; current limiters; logic circuits; overcurrent protection; power amplifiers; DMOS power transistors; class-D audio power amplifiers; current limiters; integrated overcurrent protection system; logic circuit; overcurrent detection; power FET amplifiers; pulse width modulation; short-circuit discrimination method; switching amplifiers; voltage drop; Circuit testing; Current limiters; High power amplifiers; Impedance; Loudspeakers; Power amplifiers; Power system protection; Power transistors; Pulse amplifiers; Switches; Audio amplifiers; current limiters; power FET amplifiers; pulse width modulation; switching amplifiers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9200

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSSC.2005.857369

Filename

1522564