Analog Devices, Inc.
Webinar Date: May 18, 2023
Racing Ahead with Trusted Automotive Testing Solutions
This post covers Key Takeaways and Frequently Asked Questions from the Analog Devices Racing Ahead with Trusted Automotive Testing Solutions webinar regarding automotive and other high-voltage testing. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a curious newcomer, you’ll find plenty of valuable information watching the webinar. Links to the Webinar, Resources, and Related Content are provided within the post. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation will be provided for customers that register to watch the recorded webinar. All Snippets and Content Compliments of Analog Devices, Inc.
Key Takeaways
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Automotive testing is a broad and rapidly evolving application space
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Analog Devices is a trusted solutions partner with a comprehensive product offering and reference design portfolio including high voltage, precision applications, isolation, sensors and power management
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Dynamic power supplies and emulators for testing inverters, motors / e-axles, battery packs, charging stations, on-board charging systems
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Extending precision to high voltage and high current, battery pack voltages increasing from 400V to 800V to 1200V+ extending range and reducing charge time
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Bi-directional topologies to improve system efficiency
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Robust isolation for connectivity and control
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HIL “Simulator” (Hardware In a Loop) is purpose-built hardware+software used for testing of complex real-time systems
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Datalogger / Protocol Analyzer is a device that monitors and records digital and analog signals in a vehicle for diagnostic, repair, or optimization purposes
Battery Cell Formation Key Takeaways:
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ADI solutions (ADBT1000) combine precision, power and system know-how to enable flexible and scalable solutions for emerging battery chemistries
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Leading precision performance enables higher yield in battery formation and test manufacturing
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Integrated system level features enable faster time to market and robust solution for equipment manufacturers
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Integrated DSP algorithms eliminates the need for DSP programming – only basic register configuration
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Lowest footprint enables 2x more factory floor utilization
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Power recycling during formation, cycling and testing
Frequently Asked Questions
We create custom test instruments with large number of channels, using ADC and DACs in 1-20MHz with 12-16 bits, do you have recommendation to achieve performance with under 10$ per channel?
- Its hard to come up with this on the fly with an estimated cost, given the range it is a pretty wide range but ADI does offer options to support both extremes of frequencies and resolutions, the easy way to save cost per channel is to have a multiplexed system and if you need simultaneous signaling across all channels they tend to be more expensive but we do have options for that as well. The HIL kit (Hardware In a Loop) itself may be something to check out. We do follow up with those questions with more specifics and suggestions with the customer when they inquire with more design specifics and requirements.
Are all the products in today’s presentation automotive qualified?
- No, actually the majority of test and measurement applications don’t have to be AEC-Q100 qualified. Depending on the setting of the testing they generally aren’t subjected to the same temperature and conditions of the actual automotive application they are testing. We do specify our products over various temperature ranges and measurement data. That being said some test applications do require AEC-Q100 for testing, for those applications you can check out a list of our AEC-Q100 compliant products on analog.com/automotive for that list.
Continuous working voltage is critical in my design, what isolation products from ADI support greater than 1.5KV isolation?
- As battery voltages get higher, working voltage does get more critical. We did mention a few products in our presentation such as ADN4620 LVDS digital isolator, also the ADM2761 for RS45, additionally with the acquisition of Maxim the MAX22446 digital isolator operates at those higher working voltages to name a few.
Does ADI provide any reference designs on how to implement isolation for higher voltage data acquisition systems?
- It’s really important to have some reference designs to show customers how to practically implement digital isolation for data pass as well for isolation in power supplies. We do have a couple of reference designs to show customers some data points of how to make designs with certain trade-offs with isolation voltages and data through-puts. CN0385 is one reference design as well as CN0254. CN0548 is another newer one that shows some of our newer isolation products.
What FPGA is used and what firmware and software is available with the board?
- The board itself has an FMC connector, and typical usage would be hooking it up to a ZedBoard using a Zynq FPGA. The firmware supports using Simulink to develop the customized HDL inside the actual FPGA. With the design comes all the firmware necessary to do all the low latency communication between the ADCs and the DACs, also we handle the firmware stack to get the Simulink operation function into the FPGA. The idea is it gets shipped with some simple Simulink templates to configure the board however you like. In addition to the FPGA and simulation stack, we also have the Python templates to interact with the board as well, so it is pretty flexible. The kit is going to be available in the CN0585 available shortly if you want to take a look for that.
Is 200ns really low latency? I’ve seen much faster converters with lower latency values.
- It’s a fair point, even ADI makes high speed converters that operate in the gigahertz range, but the idea we are talking about here is low latency with precision. The idea is the low latency kit is running with 16-bit DACs and 16-bit ADCs. Even though the ADCs and DACs are running at only 15MHz they are using SAR based technology so there is no pipeline latency. A lot of the faster converters even though may have faster sample rates, because of the pipeline latency of 7-10 clocks, they might not necessarily be lower latency.
Does ADI have recommendations for power parts particularly in the high voltage applications mentioned here?
- ADI does offer an incredibly diverse amount of power parts now with both Legacy ADI but also Legacy Maxim and Linear Tech portfolios. Specifically for automotive test some of the isolated power supplies such as LTN2886 and the ADUM347X families, but additionally you can have parts that are just flyback converters that use external transformers to get the high voltage isolation through the transformers such as LT3999 or LT8301 that will enable customers to use their own customized design using external transformers.
Can a non-contacting current loop measure current through a shielded cable? Assuming not but wanted to clarify.
- A current sensor that uses magnetic sensor technology is to pick up magnetic fields, so the main thing here is it doesn’t necessarily work if you have two wires carrying currents in opposite directions. If you have cable shielding only electric fields it would be okay, if it is shielding magnetic fields then no you would not be able to sense the current from any magnetic current sensing technology that uses magnetics.
What about time sensitive network capabilities?
- Industry 4.0 and TSNs is definitely a hot topic these days and important if you are trying to synchronize information from multiple data sources if that information is critical or just interacting with each other. We do offer a wide portfolio of products as well regarding this.
Has the current sensor been tested in electric vehicle applications?
- I’m not aware it has been tested in EV applications, the 8F1080 has been tested in instrumentation applications and works very well compared to typical clamp meters with the potential to do higher bandwidth with a slightly smaller form factor.
What is the part number for the reference current sensor and is it hall effect based?
- ADAF10808F1080 is AMR based, the sensor itself is a wheat stone bridge made with AMR and with other elements. Compared to hall effect sensors it should have higher dynamic range with ability to do electric flipping, so it offers lower drift as well compared to hall effect.
Webinar Links and Resources
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Example Webinar Slides
-Much more in-depth slides and a copy of the PowerPoint presentation will be provided for customers that register to watch the recorded webinar.
