Balanced-switch IC for equal current sharing in parallel
This patent covers a circuit design for splitting electrical current evenly across two parallel switch transistors. When transistors are wired in parallel to handle more current than a single device can carry, tiny manufacturing differences cause one transistor to hog more current than the other, creating heat and reliability problems. The invention inserts a precisely chosen resistor between each transistor's source terminal and the shared control node, which automatically compensates for those differences and forces the current to divide equally. The result is a more reliable, thermally balanced power switch that can be integrated into chips or power modules without complex active balancing circuitry.
What you could build
A power management IC or discrete power module for high-current applications—such as motor drives, DC-DC converters, or inverters—where the balanced-switch topology is licensed into chip designs or embedded in power stage reference designs. Primary buyers would be semiconductor IP licensees and power electronics chipmakers.
Who in Virginia should care
Defense electronics contractors and power semiconductor firms with design centers in Northern Virginia or the Hampton Roads corridor would have direct interest in reliable high-current switch designs.
Readiness: Prototype likely
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Yincan MAO, Chi-Ming WANG, Khai NGO
- Granted
- January 22, 2019
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 10187050
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.