摘要 |
A surge protection circuit is disclosed for an electrical Load which may be for instance an LED load which is directly connected to a supply such as mains supply, and comprises a plurality of switches which are distributed across a plurality of semiconductor die. A surge detector detects the start of a spike in the supply, which results from, for example the commencement or interruption of a nearby inductive load, and opens all the switches. By distributing the switches across multiple die the peak voltage across each is reduced relative to using a single die; thereby each die can stay within the absolute maximum voltage capacity. Each die may have its own surge detector; alternatively, a single surge detector may be used which communicates with the switches on each of the die. In an extension the bridge rectifier may be integrated into the circuit distributed across the die. In this embodiment additional inter-die clamping diodes are required to prevent unsafe floating of the edge connections of each die.
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