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Power Electronics Testing for Automotive Applications
Accurately characterize and analyze your power electronics
Create High-Efficiency Automotive Power Electronics
Automakers use high-power electronics to enable e-mobility by electrifying powertrains and other vehicle subsystems. These power converters must operate in harsh environments with constant mechanical vibration, noise, and wide temperature ranges. The focus on carbon emission reduction and the growth of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid EVs (HEVs) will increase the demand for efficient power systems, requiring new semiconductor technologies like silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). Increased switching speeds, high voltage, and expanded thermal performance create design and test challenges for characterizing and modeling these new technologies. Learn how Keysight’s industry-leading automotive solutions can help you deliver safer, higher-performance power electronics — from device to system.
Double-Pulse Test
EVs are increasing demand for insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), silicon-carbide (SiC), and gallium-nitride (GaN) semiconductors. Accurately characterizing these devices requires both static and dynamic measurements. The double-pulse test method is the de facto industry standard for dynamic characterization of power devices.
Test Wide-Bandgap (WBG) Power Modules
Keysight’s PD1550A advanced dynamic power device analyzer / double-pulse tester delivers repeatable, reliable measurements of wide-bandgap power modules, with an option for discrete devices coming soon. This off-the-shelf system is a turnkey measurement solution that enables faster time to market by providing quick and reliable results you can count on — while ensuring a safe test environment. Its modular hardware design and software updates ensure your research and development (R&D) team can continue to test as technology evolves quickly. Discover the power of the double-pulse test today with the PD1550A advanced dynamic power device analyzer / double-pulse tester solution.
Characterize Discrete WBG Devices
Keysight’s PD1500A dynamic power device analyzer / double-pulse tester delivers repeatable, reliable measurements of discrete wide-bandgap semiconductors. Like the Keysight PD1550A, the PD1500A has a smaller footprint and is an off-the-shelf, turnkey measurement solution. The platform enables faster time to market by providing quick and reliable results you can count on while also ensuring a safe test environment.
Learn more from Keysight's double pulse test library
Evaluate Static Characteristics of Automotive WBG Power Devices
To maximize the performance of automotive power electronics products, you need to select the correct power semiconductor devices and components for each application. The Keysight B1506A power device analyzer for circuit design is an ideal solution for analyzing the static characteristics of WBG devices.
It can evaluate all relevant device parameters under various operating conditions: IV parameters, such as breakdown voltage and on-resistance, three-terminal field-effect transistors (FETs) capacitances, gate charge, and power loss.
Switched-Mode Power Supply Design
Switched-mode power supply (SMPS) designs are evolving with the emergence of wide bandgap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power devices. Designing these supplies requires a modern circuit design tool as the traditional pre-layout simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) is no longer enough. SPICE does not account for voltage spikes and electromagnetic (EM) interference issues caused by layout parasitics.
A new workflow that adds a post-layout EM-circuit co-simulation stage is needed to find and fix these problems. Keysight’s PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) and Power Electronics Pro (PEPro) will simulate the effects of layout parasitics before the first prototype.
Quickly Deliver Accurate SPICE models
The semiconductor industry faces continuing challenges to maximize product performance and yield, decrease time to market, and reduce production costs.
The latest PathWave device modeling (IC-CAP) release provides a re-designed user interface and usability improvements so you can extract more models in less time. It also supports Python 3, integrated plotting, and linkage to customized installations. Keysight also offers extraction flow for metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), bipolar junction transistor (BJT), insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), silicon carbide (SIC), gallium nitride (GaN).
DETECT ANOMALOUS WAVEFORMS IN AUTOMOTIVE MCU AND FPGA
Critical electric vehicle functions use numerous microcontroller units (MCUs) and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) units. Any malfunction could lead to potential fatalities, and detrimental business impacts, such as mass product recalls. The Keysight CX3300A device current waveform analyzer and anomalous waveform analytics software rapidly detects and analyzes anomalous signals in these MCUs and FPGAs, enabling fast rectification of hardware, firmware, and software defects.
Now you can save 15% on the CX3300 application bundles for use on this powerful waveform analyzer.
More Test Solutions Supporting Future Mobility
AUTOMOTIVE POWER ELECTRONICS FAQs
What are automotive power electronics?
Automotive power electronics refer to devices such as diodes, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), MOSFETs, and the newer silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) devices.
What are automotive power devices used for in a vehicle?
Automotive power devices control and convert electric power for various automotive applications, such as body electronics, infotainment and telematics, safety and security, chassis, and, increasingly, powertrains in electric vehicles (EVs).
What are wide bandgap devices?
Wide bandgap (WBG) devices are power semiconductors based on silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), used in modern power converter designs.
Why are GaN and SiC WBG devices becoming popular?
GaN and SiC WBG semiconductors provide major leaps in speed (10x to 100x faster than previous designs), higher voltage, and thermal operation. This faster speed improves efficiency reducing the size and cost. These benefits enable automotive power converter designers to integrate higher power handling in a smaller, lighter form factor.
What is the difference between dynamic and static characterization in WBG testing?
Dynamic characterizations are time-dependent waveform characterizations and parameter extraction from the device switching status — on to off (or vice versa), such as turn-on, turn-off, and switching. Static characterizations are basically I-V and C-V characterizations that are not time-dependent.
I-V characteristics include Vth, Vge(th), Id-Vgs, Ic-Vge, Id-Vds, Ic-Vce, Rds-on, Vce(sat), Igss, Iges, BVds, and BVces .
C-V characteristics such as Ciss, Coss, Crss, Rg, Cies, Coes, and Cres .
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