Re: Asking the experts - Controlling a point-of-load regulator



I'm a patent researcher looking for examples, before 2002, of
controlling a point-of-load (POL) regulator by use of a microprocessor.
 In this case, a serial bus is used to communicate between a power
controller and a POL regulator. The power controller is actually
performing calculations instead of merely enabling/disabling or
monitoring. I' happy to clarify or answer any questions you may have.
For additional info you can look at US patent 6,949,916; I believe what
is discussed in this patent actually existed before 2002. Any
assistance would be appreciated.


Many inverters use micro controllers to generate a 'real' sine wave and regulate it's amplitude under varying load and battery conditions. These are the higher end versions for off-grid solar installations, not the cheap 'simulated sine wave' versions for the travel trailer. "Trace" was an early brand, much older than 2002. I believe that brand and many others are now owned by Xantrex:
http://www.xantrex.com/

A serial bus connection would be rather trivial. It can be found on larger units. One that I have seen is a Siemens inverter to feed solar power into the grid and monitor the delivered energy. AFAIK it could be controlled via that link and also send it's delivery data to a PC for revenue tracking.

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
.