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Challenges and Solutions for Power Testing in Automotive Applications

Technical Overviews

Challenges and Solutions for

Power Testing in Automotive Applications

Introduction

Each year vehicle electrification continues to increase, with all signs pointing to this trend accelerating in the future. Some of the factors contributing to this development are the increasing use of hybrid and fully electric vehicles to meet “green energy” and e-mobility goals, the desire for the greater reliability that electronic components generally provide and the need to reduce automotive recalls (which are largely due to mechanical rather than electrical failures). In addition, globalization has created fierce competition in the automotive and automotive component industries as everyone strives to develop automotive functions at a lower cost without sacrificing energy efficiency, safety, and reliability.

This technical overview provides a synopsis of automotive electronic systems, the challenges they face, and what tools automotive electronics engineers need to meet them. It concludes with a discussion of Keysight’s solutions to these challenges.

Automotive functions undergoing electrification

Power train control/charger

  • EV
  • HEV
  • Onboard charger
  • Charging station

Body control

  • Power door/window
  • HID lighting system

Safety control

  • Electrical power steering
  • Brake system

Sensors

  • Pressure sensors
  • Accelerometer
  • Current sensor
  • Photo sensor

Challenges Facing Vehicle Electrification

Many automotive functions are now controlled electronically. Figure 2 shows block diagrams of some typical automotive electronic applications.

Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and electric vehicle (EV) technologies can significantly improve automotive fuel efficiency (and even eliminate entirely the need for liquid fuels). At the core of these vehicle electrification technologies is the electrified power train, which consists of a converter to boost voltage and an inverter to drive the motor. Because it is at the heart of all HEV/EV systems, the power train has to be extremely reliable. Among the challenges the power train faces are EV test for the need to withstand high voltages and currents (up to 650 V and 200 A) as well as the ability to function in harsh temperatures (-40 to 40 °C) and high humidity. Power devices (such as IGBTs or diodes) used in the powertrain can end up operating at more than 100 °C due to energy they are dissipating. Nevertheless, the powertrain has to work reliably even under these extreme conditions.

The performance of the diodes and IGBTS used in the powertrain’s circuitry is crucial to achieving high fuel efficiency. Using devices with low conduction loss and low switching loss is very important to meet this goal. In addition, increasing the converter/inverter operating frequency allows the surrounding capacitors and inductors to be smaller in size, which in-turn reduces weight and also increase fuel efficiency. Devices fabricated from new materials such as SiC and GaN offer both higher operating frequencies as well as more robust temperature performance, which makes them attractive as components in future power automotive systems.

Of course, even vehicles with no electrical powertrain have many critical electrical systems. DC-DC converters and rectifiers are used in onboard chargers and charging systems, and these circuits have requirements similar to those of the powertrain. Electrical power steering, brake and lighting systems are obviously all crucial for automotive safety, and their operation needs to be as reliable as possible. It is therefore important that all of the components used in these systems (MOSFETs, diodes, capacitors, inductors, etc.) maintain stable behavior under a wide variety of conditions. Electrical sensors used in automobiles provide critical information relating to motion control, operating efficiency and safety, which makes their performance and reliability also very important. For this reason, many automotive and automotive component manufacturers are actively developing improved versions of these sensors. 

Key challenges facing vehicle electrification systems:

  • Must be reliable under a wide range of conditions
  • Employ large operating currents and voltages (e.g. 200 A, 650 V)
  • Must function over a wide temperature range (e.g. -40 to +150°C)
  • Need high conversion efficiencies
  • Need high operating frequencies to reduce module size and weight
  • Need reliable sensors to provide critical safety information
  • Must utilize SiC/GaN devices to increase efficiency and functional temperature range

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