US Patent Issued to Apogee Semiconductor on July 28 for "Load switch having current-ramping soft start" (Iowa Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,695,368, issued on July 28, was assigned to Apogee Semiconductor Inc. (Plano, Texas).

"Load switch having current-ramping soft start" was invented by Brett E. Smith (Fayette, Iowa).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A load switch with a soft start feature operates an MOS power device as a current source having a limited current capability. During a soft start ramp period, the power device is driven under feedback control such that a gradually-increasing servo current through a reference device of the same type and driven by the same gate drive voltage follows a ramp signal. The ramp signal may be generated using a current source to charge a s...