US 11,719,761 B2
Capacitor measurement
Davide Argento, Milan (IT); Orazio Pennisi, Pieve Emanuele (IT); Stefano Castorina, Milan (IT); Vanni Poletto, Milan (IT); Matteo Landini, Bareggio (IT); and Andrea Maino, Novara (IT)
Assigned to STMicroelectronics S.r.l., Agrate Brianza (IT)
Filed by STMicroelectronics S.r.l., Agrate Brianza (IT)
Filed on Aug. 20, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/407,747.
Prior Publication US 2023/0055745 A1, Feb. 23, 2023
Int. Cl. G01R 31/64 (2020.01); G01R 27/26 (2006.01); G01R 31/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01R 31/64 (2020.01) [G01R 27/2605 (2013.01); G01R 31/006 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for measuring a capacitance value of a capacitor, the method comprising:
having a resistor coupled to a terminal of the capacitor;
measuring a difference in voltage at the terminal between a first time and a second time during a discharge routine of the capacitor, the discharge routine comprising sinking a current through a discharge circuit coupled to the resistor from the first time to the second time;
measuring an integration of a difference in voltage at terminals of the resistor during the discharge routine between the first time and the second time;
computing the capacitance value based on the measured difference in voltage, the measured integration, and an inverse of a resistance value of the resistor; and
determining a health of the capacitor based on a difference between the computed capacitance value and a threshold value.