Gate driver IC for balanced current sharing in parallel
When multiple power transistors are wired in parallel to handle high currents, they rarely share the load equally due to manufacturing variations, causing some to run hotter or wear out faster. This technology adds small capacitors between the transistors' control terminals and uses sensors monitoring each transistor's temperature or current to automatically stagger when each transistor turns on or off. By briefly disabling individual gate drivers at precise moments, the capacitors charge to slightly different voltages, giving each transistor a subtly customized control signal from a single shared driver. The result is balanced power dissipation and current sharing across all parallel transistors without needing complex per-transistor driver circuits.
What you could build
A gate driver IC or module for high-power inverters, EV powertrains, or industrial motor drives where multiple transistors must be paralleled; power electronics manufacturers and Tier 1 automotive suppliers building SiC or IGBT-based systems would be the primary buyers.
Who in Virginia should care
Defense and aerospace contractors in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads (Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Leidos) using high-power electronics in shipboard or aircraft power systems would be plausible licensees.
Readiness: Lab validated
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
- Khai Ngo, Lujie Zhang, Zichen Miao
- Granted
- June 12, 2018
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 9998111
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.