METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE CURRENT OF AN INDUCTIVE LOAD

A method for pulse-modulated current control of an inductive load current. A first operating mode is implemented when a change in current setpoint value is effected. An initial duty cycle of the pulse modulation is determined and used to operate the inductive load in a second operating mode. In the first operating mode, a switching state of at least one switching element is set depending on whether a current setpoint value of the load current is higher or lower than a current setpoint value of a directly preceding cycle. The switching state is retained until a current limit value is reached and then switched over. The switching state of the switching element is switched over multiple times to generate a prescribed number of periods, and the duty cycle of the pulse modulation is determined based on at least a portion of the prescribed number of periods.