CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 15/753,492 filed Feb. 19, 2018, which claims the benefit of and priority to PCT/CN2016/091809 filed Jul. 26, 2016. The entire disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to power modules having current sensing circuits, and corresponding sensing methods.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

Many power modules use different approaches for sensing current in the power module, including current sensing transformers, alternating current (AC) sensors, output choke direct current resistance (DOR), shunt resistors, etc. High density, high power, space restricted power modules often require small footprint components for current sensing in order to increase available space for other components of the power module.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

According to one example embodiment of the present disclosure, a power module comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) having a PCB trace, a first sense terminal coupled to the PCB trace at a first location, and a second sense terminal coupled to the PCB trace at a second location distinct from the first location such that a resistance between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal is defined by a resistance of the PCB trace between the first location and the second location. The power module further comprises a control coupled to the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal, the control adapted to measure a voltage between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal and determine a current through the PCB trace based on the measured voltage and the resistance between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal.

According to another example embodiment of the present disclosure, a power module comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) having a PCB trace, a first sense terminal coupled to a first location of the PCB trace, and a second sense terminal coupled to a second location of the PCB trace such that a resistance between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal is defined by a resistance of the PCB trace. The power module further comprises a control coupled to the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal, the control adapted to determine a current through the PCB trace based on a measured voltage between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal and based on the resistance between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal. The power module also comprises a temperature compensation circuit coupled to the control, the temperature compensation circuit adapted to adjust an overcurrent protection threshold of the power module based on a measured ambient temperature to compensate for changes in the resistance between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal based on temperature.

According to yet another example embodiment of the present disclosure, method of sensing a current sensing using a current sensing circuit, the current sensing circuit having a first sense terminal coupled to a printed circuit board (PCB) trace on a PCB of a power module and having a second sense terminal coupled to the PCB trace such that a resistance between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal is defined by the resistance of the PCB trace. The method comprises measuring a voltage between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal and determining a current through the PCB trace based on the measured voltage and the resistance between the first sense terminal and the second sense terminal.

Further aspects and areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that various aspects of this disclosure may be implemented individually or in combination with one or more other aspects. It should also be understood that the description and specific examples herein are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

