US Patent Application 17826461. LED ARRAY DRIVER WITH CHANNEL TO CHANNEL AND CHANNEL TO GROUND EXTERNAL PIN SHORT DETECTION simplified abstract

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LED ARRAY DRIVER WITH CHANNEL TO CHANNEL AND CHANNEL TO GROUND EXTERNAL PIN SHORT DETECTION

Organization Name

STMICROELECTRONICS S.r.l.

Inventor(s)

Maria Francesca Seminara of Catania (IT)

Salvatore Rosario Musumeci of Fiumefreddo Di Sic (IT)

LED ARRAY DRIVER WITH CHANNEL TO CHANNEL AND CHANNEL TO GROUND EXTERNAL PIN SHORT DETECTION - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 17826461 titled 'LED ARRAY DRIVER WITH CHANNEL TO CHANNEL AND CHANNEL TO GROUND EXTERNAL PIN SHORT DETECTION

Simplified Explanation

The abstract describes a LED driver chip that includes driver circuits with fault-detection circuits.

  • Each driver circuit is connected to a different pin and has a fault-detection circuit.
  • The fault-detection circuit includes a force circuit that directs current to a force node.
  • The fault-detection circuit also includes a sense circuit with a current sensor connected to the force node.
  • The sense circuit has a comparator that compares the voltage at the force node to a reference voltage and generates a comparison output.
  • The LED driver chip has control circuitry that can activate different modes of operation for pin-to-pin short detection and pin-to-ground short detection.
  • In the pin-to-pin short detection mode, the force circuit of one driver circuit is activated, and the sense circuit of another driver circuit is activated.
  • In the pin-to-ground short detection mode, the force circuit and the sense circuit of the same driver circuit are activated.
  • The comparison output of the activated sense circuit can indicate the presence of a short between pins or to ground based on whether it is higher or lower than the reference voltage, respectively.


Original Abstract Submitted

A LED driver chip includes driver circuits, each being coupled to a different pin and including a fault-detection circuit. Each fault-detection circuit includes a force circuit forcing current to a force node, and a sense circuit including a current sensor coupled to the force node, and a comparator comparing a voltage at the force node to a reference voltage to generate a comparison output. Control circuitry, in a pin-to-pin short detection mode, activates the force circuit of a first of the driver circuits and activates the sense circuit of a second of the driver circuits, in a pin-to-ground short detection mode, activates the force and the sense circuit of the same driver circuits. The comparison output of the comparator of the activated sense circuit, if is higher or if lower of the reference voltage, indicates if short between pin or to ground, respectively, is present.

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