on-chip ESD protection, custom/specialty I/O and PHY circuits
Due to the semiconductor shortage in 2021 everyone realized that cars these days integrate a lot of electronics. The average number of computer chips per car has increased a lot in the last decade.
It is clear that the new applications require high-speed interconnects that are not possible with the initial, low-speed interface types. But there is also innovation possible for the old interface types like LIN/CAN by combining it together with other IP blocks on a single die.
Today, you can find CMOS image sensors almost everywhere in consumer, automotive, health and security applications. There has been a lot of innovation to enable demanding requirements.
The article provides a summary about the 3 main aspects that IC designers need to consider when selecting the ESD protection clamps for their image sensor projects.
EOS, or Electrical Overstress, is any electrical stress that exceeds any of the specified absolute maximum ratings (AMR) of a product.
It is important to discuss because many products are damaged this way.
This article includes case studies and 3 approaches to handle those requests.
Some applications really need high voltage interfaces and circuits. Think about power management and power conversion chips, automotive electronics for engine control, LCD or OLED display driver chips, motor driver electronics and industrial applications. These high voltage applications require other ESD protection clamps compared to the clamps used for protection of low voltage circuits.
Sofics has been involved in a number of chip projects that require custom ESD clamps for high voltage interfaces.
When the conventional dual diode based ESD protection is causing problems ESD designers can use one of these 6 concepts.
The most common ESD protection for I/Os consist of two diodes. To cover all the different stress combinations a rail clamp is required. In this article we discuss another option. For many interfaces a local ESD protection clamp is actually a better option.
Semiconductor circuits used for Near Field Communication (NFC) need to be protected against excessive voltage. Two different approaches are discussed.
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