A watchdog scheme for monitoring a power electronic inverter and determining a manner of operating a load

摘要

Operation of a power electronic inverter 188 is monitored in order to analyze a manner in which a load connected to the power electronic inverter is driven. A watchdog circuit 190 for monitoring the power inverter includes a first sub-circuit configured to generate first data corresponding to a frequency and a duration of overloading of a transistor 330, 331, 337, 338, 343, 344 in the inverter, and a second sub-circuit configured to generate second data corresponding to a rate of rise of a voltage and a peak voltage value of the transistor in the inverter. The first sub-circuit and the second sub-circuit are configured to respectively provide the first data and second data as outputs to a controller for analyzing a manner in which a load coupled to the inverter is driven. The first data may be used to determine frequency and duration of overloading the transistor and the second data may be used to determine degradation model for the transistor based on temperature. The circuit may be used for an inverter for an electric or hybrid vehicle.