Automotive & Transportation

April 2022
Bring Your Design to the Next Level of Efficiency with OptiMOS™ 6 100 V Power MOSFET Technology

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Figure 1. Infineon StrongIRFET™ and OptiMOS™ power MOSFET 20-300 V technologies

­Introducing a game changer for high switching frequency applications High efficiency, power density, and better thermal behavior are the key trends when it comes to power management. Infineon is constantly working on introducing highly innovative power MOSFET technologies able to meet the requirements for all app
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Date:
04/30/2022
Automotive ECU Virtualization Solution Platform to Enable Secure Integration of Multiple Applications
­Renesas Electronics Corporation announced an integrated automotive ECU Virtualization Platform that enables designers to integrate multiple applications into a single ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that are safely and securely separated from each other to avoid interference. The solution enables cu
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Date:
04/28/2022
Flying Taxi Cabs in the Near Future? UIUC Researchers Say, 'Heads up, Everybody'

Professor Naira Hovakimyan from the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering (MechSE) at UIUC

­Fans of the 1997 film “The Fifth Element” were undoubtedly drawn to the gravity-defying cars filling the screen, especially the Bruce Willis character’s air taxi. Thanks to a $6M NASA grant, professor Naira Hovakimyan leads the way toward making these flying cabs a reality. And passengers won’t e
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Date:
04/26/2022
New Technology Enables 1200 V SiC MOSFET in Various Packages
The new M1H chip has been designed to provide flexibility and is intended for use in applications, such as inverters in solar energy systems, which have to meet peak demand. The chip is also ideal for use in fast EV charging, energy storage systems and other industrial applications.   Advancements in the
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Date:
04/19/2022
Bringing WBG technology to the next level: Part 2 of 4 Editorial Series sponsored by infineon: Revolutionizing the next-gen power conversion applications

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Figure 1. Cross-section view of Infineon’s CoolGaN™ GIT device structure

Introduction Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology plays a major part in the wide bandgap revolution currently sweeping the semiconductor industry and manufacturers are racing to enter this burgeoning market. While the top-level advantages of using GaN devices in power electronics applications are clear (including higher switching frequencies, better performance at high temperatures, and lower power losses), the more subtle but nonetheless important differ
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Date:
04/14/2022
Bringing WBG technology to the next level: Part 3 of 4 Editorial Series sponsored by Infineon: The fundamental game-changers for breakthrough SiC designs

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Figure 1. Comparison of planar and trench MOSFET structure

Introduction Society’s demand for energy is continuously increasing. A plethora of digital content is consumed every day, appliances are connected via the cloud, and vehicle electrification is experiencing a renaissance – all of which are contributing to this energy demand upsurge. At the same time, carbon emis
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Date:
04/14/2022
Bringing WBG technology to the next level: Part 4 of 4 Editorial Series sponsored by Infineon: When to make the move from silicon to wide bandgap

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Figure 1. Suitability of Si, SiC, and GaN for power supply applications

Introduction Silicon power devices, such as MOSFETs and IGBTs, have a long history of reliable operation in power applications. They are low-cost, with a proven track record, and there’s a wide choice of suppliers so that designers can have a second source. They are also a familiar, well-established opti
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Date:
04/14/2022
KYOCERA AVX Releases New Vertical, Dual-Row, Card-Edge Connectors
­KYOCERA AVX has extended its line of single-piece card-edge connector solutions with the addition of the new 9159-650 Series vertical, dual-row, top-entry card-edge connectors. Designed to provide significant functionality in a broad range of perpendicular, PCB-mating automotive, industrial, and li
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Date:
04/11/2022
Integrated Automotive Audio Amplifier Combines HD Sound w/ Class-G Efficiency
­STMicroelectronics’ TDA7901 automotive amplifier integrates a buck controller for class-G power switching and supports high-definition audio, a market-unique combination for great listening and high efficiency. In class-G operation, the TDA7901 buck controller automatically optimizes the volta
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Date:
04/11/2022
Bringing WBG technology to the next level: Part 1 of 4 Editorial Series sponsored by Infineon: Wide bandgap reliability is all about understanding how and why failures happen

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Figure 1. Examples for extrinsic defects in an amorphous layer, mathematically modeled via a local thinning effect in the gate-oxide of SiC devices

Introduction The unique properties of Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices make them increasingly popular alternatives for silicon in power electronics applications. The appeal of SiC devices lies in their ability to offer unipolar device concepts with low switching losses at high voltages, while GaN devices can switch at much higher frequencies. Although these properties enable smaller
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Date:
04/08/2022
TDK Offers new Y2 Capacitors for High-Temperature Requirements
TDK Corporation presents a new series of EPCOS MKP-Y2 capacitors for interference suppression. In contrast to conventional models designed for a maximum operating temperature of 110 °C, the new capacitors offer a maximum permissible operating temperature of 125 °C. The B3202* H/J series’ capacitance ranges fro
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Date:
04/07/2022
350 V GaN Power Transistor − 20x Smaller Than Comparable Silicon
EPC announces the production release of the EPC2050, a 350 V GaN transistor with a maximum RDS(on) of 80 mΩ and a 26 A pulsed output current. The EPC2050 measures just 1.95 mm x 1.95 mm. This tiny size enables power solutions that occupy ten times less area than comparable silicon solutions. Applications benefiting from the
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Date:
04/07/2022
40 V Input, 3.5 A Silent Switcher µModule Regulator for Automotive and Industrial Applications

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Figure 1. A 5 V converter with a simple EMI filter at the input passes CISPR 25 Class 5

Automotive, transportation, and industrial applications are noise sensitive and demand low EMI power solutions. Traditional approaches control EMI with slowed down switching edges or lower switching frequency. Both have undesired effects, such as reducing efficiency, increasing minimum on- and off-times, and re
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Date:
04/01/2022
We May Have Solved the EV Recharge Problem a Decade Ago
The main roadblock to widespread EV adoption may have already been solved…in theory. For as far along the technological spectrum that electric vehicles drift, there’s one persistent issue dogging it, and we’ve all known this since the beginning – recharge speed and its unfavorable comparison to intern
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Date:
04/01/2022
Automotive and Industrial Functional Safety E/E System Design

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Figure 1: A dual-channel architecture to achieve HFT = 1

The need for industrial and automotive electrical and electronic systems to perform the intended functionality safely i.e., without causing hazards, is becoming important. As industrial and automotive electrical and electronic (E/E) systems become more autonomous and complex, the need for these systems to perform
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Date:
04/01/2022
Weighing Automotive WBG Power Options

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Figure 1: A MHEV 48V system with three paralleled MOSFETs in a symmetrical loop on the PCB face (Source: Author)

Automobile power electronic designs continue to diverge in electric vehicles (EV), hybrid, and gasoline autos where silicon power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) and wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices, such as gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) devices, create ef
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Date:
04/01/2022
AC Losses in Magnetic Components

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Figure 1. Typical B-H curve from positive saturation to negative saturation. When H is zero there exists Br which requires -Hc to return to zero. The area within the loop is core loss per cycle

What are AC Losses and why are they important? This paper discusses the physical effects and which issues must be observed by design engineers. Furthermore, an approach to determine AC losses with unmatched accuracy is being introduced. In 1892 Charles P. Steinmetz, working for General Electric presented his no
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Date:
04/01/2022
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