Design and Test of an HV-CMOS Intelligent Power Switch With Integrated Protections and Self-Diagnostic for Harsh Automotive Applications

Abstract

The design and characterization in high-voltage (HV)-CMOS technology of an innovative intelligent power switch (IPS) for harsh automotive applications is proposed in this paper. To safely handle the ordinary and extraordinary automotive electrical and environmental conditions, a systematic design flow is followed: several design solutions are presented at the architectural and circuital level, integrating on-chip self-diagnostic capabilities and full protection against the high voltage and reverse polarity, the effects of wiring parasitics, and the over-current and over-temperature phenomena. Moreover, the current slope and soft start integrated techniques ensure a low electromagnetic interference, and the IPS is also configurable to efficiently drive different interchangeable loads. The innovative IPS has been implemented in a 0.35-mu m HV-CMOS technology and has been embedded in mechatronic third generation brush-holder regulator system-on-chip for an automotive alternator. The electrical simulations and experimental characterization and the testing at component and on-board system levels prove that the proposed design allows a compact and smart power switch realization facing the harshest automotive conditions

Real-Time Analysis of a Modified State Observer for Sensorless Induction Motor Drive Used in Electric Vehicle Applications

“…have been mathematically modeled), there are some problems which are encountered. While moving from simulations to real-time implementation of the model, in automotive and power applications, (EMI/EMC issues, over-voltages, overcurrent, temperature issues) arise which have to be managed with proper safe circuitry and diagnostic circuitry [30][31][32]. Table 1 summarizes the observations from the above analysis for both the observers.…”

“…Real-time simulation and test platform is one in which the computer model's performance corresponds to the performance of the actual physical system [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. It would take the same amount of time like any real world application.…”

Hard macrocells for DC/DC converter in automotive embedded mechatronic systems

“…Indeed, the proposed design supports digital configurability of the voltage, through a programmable divider, of the coefficients of the PI controller inside the voltage control loop. When compared to the state of the art, the proposed design stands for its capability of integrating in the same device all smart converter features listed above and facing harsh automotive requirements [3,23,24]. Experimental measurements prove that the IC can sustain automotive applications with ESD protection of 4 kV, operating temperature range from −40 to 150°C, and up to 180°C absolute value (the IC is not working properly but is not subject to damage), absolute voltage rating from −0.3 to 70 V. In operating mode, load current of 0.9 A can be safely managed, whereas in low power mode, the current consumption is reduced to about 300 μA.…”

“…As example, in this work, the implemented prototype, experimentally characterized in Section 4, can sustain up to 0.9 A. In case of an embedded mechatronic system requiring multiple regulated outputs, with independent regulations to avoid single-point of failure according to automotive standards [3], an array of the same DC/DC converter hardware macrocell can be realized by proper scaling the integrated power FET area of each channel according to the maximum current to sustain.…”

“…Both high-voltage power electronic circuits and low-voltage signal processing and networking circuits have to be integrated within the same embedded mechatronic unit. Particularly, in emerging hybrid and electric vehicles, multiple voltage domains have to be managed [1][2][3]: 24 or 48 V for electric/ hybrid propulsion and power-demanding mechatronic loads and 12 V for conventional on-board electronic sub-systems. From these values, also supply levels of few volts have to be generated for low-power components such as sensors and their analog and mixed-signal frontend, and digital circuitry for processing, memory, and networking.…”