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

The work presents a single-chip integrated rotor coil driver (RCD) that can be used in automotive alternators. It integrates the power switch with the control circuitry and the diagnostics; with respect to the state of the art, new functionalities are integrated such as full reverse polarity protection and programmable output slope control against in-rush currents and current spike transients. The paper will discuss the driver IC design from the choice of the architecture to the real silicon implementation. The proposed innovative RCD has been implemented in a 0.35 μm HV-CMOS technology and has been embedded in a mechatronic brush-holder regulator system-on-chip for an automotive alternator. The simulation results and experimental measurements prove the effectiveness of the proposed RCD facing the harshest automotive conditions.

This letter presents a smart driver for LEDs, particularly for automotive lighting applications, which avoid ringing and overshoot phenomena. To this aim, advanced Soft Start and Current Slope Control techniques are integrated on-chip. This letter discusses the driver design integrating in high voltage CMOS technology, the digital circuitry for programming and electronic control units interfacing, and the power devices up to 10 W. Experimental characterizations with LEDs of different power levels and with different types of connections are showed. The smart driver sustains automotive temperature and voltage requirements; moreover it has high power efficiency, it is programmable, and can be configured to work as a linear regulator (for low current LEDs) or in switch mode (for higher power LEDs)

This paper presents the design, implementation, and validation of a FlexRay transceiver and a SpaceWire (SpW) router and interface, which constitute the main hardware building blocks of the two in-vehicle communication standards. The FlexRay protocol features data rates up to 10 Mb/s and time- and event-triggered transmissions, along with scalable fault-tolerance support, and it is expected to become the standard network for X-by-wire and active safety automotive systems. However, collision avoidance and driver-assistance applications based on camera/radar sensors require data rates up to hundreds of megabits per second as well as fault tolerance, features that can hardly be covered by current or expected automotive standards. In this scenario, a promising technology seems to be the new SpW protocol, currently used in avionics and aerospace

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