SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRICALLY CONTROLLABLE TRANSMISSIONS
FIG1A is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a buck circuit Figure IB is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a class D circuit
FIG1A illustrates a buck circuit. The heart of the circuit is the power device 120 which may typically be a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). The transistor120 is powered by a positive voltage V+. This terminal where the transistor is connected to the V+ is commonly called the source terminal. An input signal 110 is fed into the transistor at the gate terminal. Further, a diode 160 is connected to the third terminal which is numbered as 180 in the Figure and is commonly called the drain. Further, the terminal 180 is connected to electrical ground via the diode as illustrated in the Figure. The transistor 120 simply acts as a switch in that the voltage at terminal 180 ideally switches between V+ and 0 depending on the gate signal 110. The signal at terminal 180 is a magnified form of the signal 110 and is shown as 130 in the Figure. Terminal 180 is also connected to an inductor 140 and a capacitor 150 which form a low pass filter. Finally a load 170 is connected to the output of the low pass filter. The low pass filter filters out rapidly-changing signals so that the load only sees a smoother version of the signal 130. More details about the functioning of this circuit will be described below.
circuit diagram
160
diode
227
is shown as
180
terminal
235
inductor
205
input signal
120
transistor
238
electrical ground
260
signal is illustrated as
255
capacitor
200
class D circuit
170
load
236
output terminal
250
Signal
140
inductor
110
signal
210
triangular signal
245
signal
130
is shown as signal
215
comparator
100
buck circuit
240
load
150
capacitor
['1. A system, comprising: an electrically controllable transmission, wherein the electrically controllable transmission comprises at least one input hub, at least one electrically controllable clutch, a rotatable member, an output hub, and a bias member that couples the rotatable member to the output hub, wherein the at least one electrically controllable clutch is configured to transmit power from the at least one input hub to the rotatable member when engaged; and a control circuit configured to apply at least one control signal to the at least one electrically controllable clutch, wherein the at least one control signal comprises pulses that cause the at least one electrically controllable clutch to engage and disengage in at least one sequence of alternating engagement time intervals and disengagement time intervals, wherein a transmission ratio of the electrically controllable transmission is controlled by the at least one sequence of alternating engagement time intervals and disengagement time intervals.']