Modern cars feature several advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Safety-critical ADAS applications must be designed for high availability, and automated driving functions are even more challenging to implement as they introduce failover operational requirements. The impact on primary power distribution is the introduction of safety elements to ensure rapid fault isolation in less than 100 µs.
As fuses cannot meet this requirement, partial or full electrification of the primary power distribution needs to be considered. Furthermore, modern cars have an increasing number of applications to improve driver and passenger comfort.
The power distribution system provides all of these applications, allowing power to flow from one source to multiple loads in a car in a very safe and controlled manner. One of the biggest challenges for designers today is reducing the cost, length, weight and complexity of the wiring harness.
To meet these needs, Infineon Technologies introduces the EiceDRIVER 2ED2410-EM, an intelligent high-side MOSFET gate driver for 12/24V automotive applications with integrated wire protection. This gate driver is an ideal match for Infineon's OptiMOS 40/60V MOSFETs.
This gate driver has two output channels for two different MOSFET structures, either a consecutive common source plus a common precharge or drain path. The driver's improved on and off capability allows you to easily increase the number of MOSFETs to manage higher load currents. Even up to several hundred amps, it guarantees rapid shutdown in microseconds, whereas classic fuses only disconnect in the millisecond range.
Furthermore, this device can operate up to 3 V. These low voltages can occur in a short circuit until the faulty load is disconnected.
The EiceDRIVER 2ED2410-EM has three analog measurement interfaces and four integrated comparators for protection purposes. This allows for flexible and versatile solutions for various requirements, including adjustable IT wire protection, overcurrent protection, over/undervoltage protection, and others. Currents can be measured in both directions and drain-source voltage is monitored to identify conditions such as open load at the output.
The adjustable wire protection feature helps select the smallest possible wire cross-section for the corresponding load behavior. In the past, wires had to be designed with a diameter margin of up to 30% compared to actual requirements in order to take into account the tolerance and aging effect of classic fuses. To minimize battery discharge when the vehicle is parked, the device comes with a very low quiescent current consumption of just a few tenths of a µA.
