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

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

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!

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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.

In a previous blog post, I provided a number of Energy Harvesting example designs that could be modeled and simulated in SystemVision. These included electrodynamic, thermal and solar energy harvesting for Industrial IoT and Automotive applications. Subsequent to that posting, we added a rich new capability to SystemVision, "Live Designs".

Electric Power Steering (EPS) systems provide a challenging control design problem for system integrators. Because the system directly interacts with the driver’s hands, reducing vibration is a must. But controlling the system’s fundamental mechanical resonance requires loop compensation, such as lead, which can make the system sensitive to higher frequency disturbances (1). This can include cogging and torque ripple from the motor, or commutation noise from the drive electronics. For this reason, it is essential to have a tool flow that supports a coordinated design effort across these technologies.

Figure 2. MotorSolve B-field Analysis of the EPS PMSM Motor

A colleague of mine, a thermal design engineer, once made a comment that I’ll never forget. I was simulating a power electronics circuit and I placed a scope probe on a transistor model and plotted the power dissipation. Its value was of course changing over time, as the circuit’s operating state was varied during the simulated test scenario. He exclaimed: “You have a Power Fairy!”

Ever since the CAN specification was released many decades ago, designers have pushed their network configurations beyond the conservative limits of the standard, driven by manufacturablity, customization flexibility and other non-technical reasons. With thorough engineering analysis, including electrical simulation of the physical layer, they were able to design communication systems that meet both demanding performance and economic requirements.

ON Semiconductor uses SystemVision^® Cloud to offer customers a comprehensive web-based design/simulation environment. By developing VHDL-AMS product models, ON's application engineers provide cloud-based product support, including interactive schematics and application notes, tunable simulations of pre-designed solutions, and free-form application designs.

This handbook presents an overview of the most important DC-DC converter topologies. The main objective is to guide a designer in selecting the topology with its associated semiconductor devices. Be sure to interact with the embedded designs below, and feel free to take them into your own workspace to explore further!

SystemVision Cloud is all about modeling, simulation, and waveforms – lots of waveforms! We make it easy for you to view your waveforms by clicking on the probe icon, on the application toolbar, and dragging probes onto any wire or component.

The SystemVision Cloud application environment opens automatically within your web browser when you go to create a new design or take a closer look at a previously existing one. If you are going to spend more time in-depth designing, modeling, or simulating, it may be helpful to dedicate more of your screen space for this. SystemVision Cloud supports a full-screen mode as shown below

Go Full Screen

To go full screen, just click the window button as shown here.

When using SystemVision Cloud in modeling and design, the results of simulations can be valuable for a variety of reasons. Whether your using SystemVision Cloud's multi-discipline simulation engine to measure voltage or velocity, the output data can be useful and applicable outside of the application environment. Let's take a look at how to download simulation results.