This article describes a method to perform accurate electro-thermal simulations for circuits that operate in switch-mode. This approach addresses the fundamental problem of these divergent requirements:
• The need to simulate long periods of “virtual circuit operation”, due to long thermal settling times
• The need for small simulation time-steps, due to high switching frequencies and fast, non-linear device behavior

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The Simcenter Flotherm team recently released a new capability that I believe will revolutionize the electro-thermal design process! It is called BCI ROM (Boundary Condition Independent – Reduced Order Model) technology, a modeling approach to capture accurate thermal characteristics from a 3D/CFD analysis, ready for use in 1D circuit simulation.

A new thermal model generation capability has recently been provided in Simcenter Flotherm. It will not only improve the accuracy and efficacy of the electro-thermal design process, but will also be easy for electronic circuit designers to use. In this article, which is Part 2 of a series, I’ll focus on an “LED Spotlight” application. This is intended to represent systems that are primarily composed of continuous (non-switching) analog electronics devices.

A new thermal model generation capability has recently been provided in Simcenter Flotherm. It will not only improve the accuracy and efficacy of the electro-thermal design process, but will also be easy for electronic circuit designers to use. In this article, which is Part 1 of a series, I’ll focus on an example application: A “smartphone”. This is intended to represent systems that are primarily composed of digital electronics devices.

Solar energy systems for residential use are typically limited by code to 600V, but commercial installations can operate at higher voltages. This opens the door to more efficient energy utilization. Achieving that efficiency has been made easier with the introduction of Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Devices from Rohm Semiconductor. These components offer significant performance advantages over their Silicon (Si) counterparts.

Solar Panel Load Current vs. Voltage at different irradiance levels

Press the shift key as you click on a portion of the wire. This will select the entire wire which can be deleted with the delete key.

Yes, by pressing either the shift or control keys while you click and drag with the mouse. The shift key will add the enclosed items to the currently selected set. The control key will clear whatever is currently selected and select the enclosed items.

Holding the shift key down while clicking on an object will add this object to the selected set. Holding the control key down while clicking on an object will toggle that object’s selection without changing anything else that is selected. If the object was selected, it will be deselected after you click with the control key pressed.

VHDL-AMS and SPICE. SystemVision Cloud doesn’t provide support and/or compatibility for several proprietary constructs found in some PSpice® or LTspice® models.

That is an Intercom chat button where you can chat with a SystemVision Cloud developer.

To prevent other users from seeing a design, it must be stored in a secret group which requires a subscription.  Refer to the Plans and Features section of the home page for more information.

No. With a free account you can create as many public designs as you want.

In my previous article I demonstrated an important self-protection feature of the NCV84160 from ON Semiconductor; its ability to enter thermal limit cycling if the internal device temperature gets too high. My friend and fellow model-developer, Alain Stas of Vishay, recently suggested that NTC thermistors could be used to provide similar protection at the circuit board or system level. One application where this could be implemented in a very natural way is for LED lighting systems.

Vishay SMD NTC Thermistors with Enhanced Stability

Creating a design is easy and can be done without creating an account.  If you create an account, your designs will be saved so you will have access to them the next time you login.

ON Semiconductor has recently provided a high-fidelity model of their NCV84160 High-Side Driver. That device has many built-in functions and protection features beneficial to automotive lamp, solenoid and other driver applications.

We have been asked by several of our customers for instructions on creating “Live” (a.k.a. “tunable”) designs and embedding them in their own web-pages. These component manufactures appreciate the accessibility and customer-education value of these interactive reference designs, for demonstrating key features and effective usage of their devices, in the context to the customer’s application!

This article describes a method for creating this content. It is also product of that approach!

Create a Word Document

Virtual Teardown

When I saw the original advertisement  for the Ember coffee mug, I was drawn to it like a Seattleite to a Starbucks. I knew that I had to get one and would then inevitably spend my weekend trying to figure out precisely how it works.

A versatile and effective modeling capability is available in our HyperLynx product family. It uses complex-pole fitting to extract simulation-ready models from measured frequency response data. This can be useful in a wide range of engineering design applications, from system level transfer function (signal flow) analysis, to modeling component interactions in a circuit simulation. The following example illustrates both of these aspects in a practical application: Design of a motion control loop that includes a flexible structure.