Prototyping and characterisation of a monolithic, rad-hard, Voltage Clamp Integrated Circuit.

Development of voltage clamp integrated circuit to be used in power conversion and distribution architectures based on Point of Load (or linear) regulators.

The activity consists in the development of a voltage clamp integrated circuit to be used in power conversion and distribution architectures based on Point of Load (or linear) regulators. Such functions are currently based on discrete whit corresponding drawbacks and limitations. To control over voltage emissions coming from failures or SEE in power conversion and distribution architectures based on Point of Load (or linear) regulators, it has been proposed by ESA to use a voltage clamp device in combination with a overcurrent limiter (different presentations in ESTEC, at the ESPC 2011 and in a running TRP study). The combination of the current limitation and the voltage clamp devices gives the chance to resolve the failure management within the architecture in a recurrent mode, based on real building blocks that can be recurrently sold by the relevant manufacturer with clear reliability, reproducibility and possibly cost advantages for the equipment manufacturer and at system level. The present activity consists in the design and development of the voltage clamp based on integrated technology (monolithic or other technology allowing similar packaging density). The development consists in the following main tasks: 1. Specification consolidation, based on technology limitations versus required size of the device and relevant thermal constraints; 2. Design 3. Manufacturing 4. Test validation.