A 60 V Tolerance Transceiver With ESD Protection for FlexRay-Based Communication Systems

• Published in: IEEE transactions on circuits and systems. I, Regular papers Vol. 62; no. 3; pp. 752 - 760
• Main Authors: Wang, Chua-Chin, Chen, Chih-Lin, Hou, Zong-You, Hu, Yi, Lee, Jam-Wem, Lin, Wan-Yen, Chang, Yi-Feng, Hsu, Chia-Wei, Song, Ming-Hsiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-03-2015; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Buses (vehicles); CMOS integrated circuits; Communication systems; Detectors; Devices; Diodes; Electrostatic discharges; FlexRay transceiver; Hazards; High voltages; high-voltage diode; high-voltage ESD device; Integrated circuits; Leakage currents; over-voltage detector; Sensors; Static electricity; Temperature measurement; Tolerances; Transceivers
• ISSN: 1549-8328; 1558-0806
• DOI: 10.1109/TCSI.2014.2370192

In this paper, a 60 V tolerance transceiver with ESD (electrostatic discharge) protection is proposed for FlexRay-based communication systems. The FlexRay transceiver comprises three protective devices, including an over-voltage detector, high-voltage ESD devices, and high-voltage diodes. The over-voltage detector is in charge of detecting bus (BP and BM) status to distinguish whether any hazard has happened. If the over-voltage detector is activated, the FlexRay transceiver must be turned off for safety. The high-voltage ESD device uses a base-floating PNP serving as a bi-directional device. Besides, it can protect the FlexRay transceiver whenever it is short-circuited in positive or negative high voltages. Notably, the high-voltage diode will eliminate the negative leakage current when negative high voltage hazards appear in FlexRay channels. An experimental prototype is implemented using a 0.18 μm CMOS mixed-signal based generation II HV BCD process. The measurement results justify the functional correctness and 60 V tolerance of the proposed FlexRay transceiver design.