Smart Power devices and new electronic fuses compliant with new E/E architecture for autonomous driving

Nowadays, the automotive industry is undergoing an unprecedented disruption which calls for an exponential growth of the installed technologies with high computational power, networking complexity, efficiency and safety for the new car generation. Such a radical change is being accompanied by a likewise profound transformation of the car Electric/Electronic architecture, with optimized topologies, redundancies and multiple supply sources. In this scenario, Electronic Fuses (E-Fuse) play a key role, as they are crucial to optimize the power distribution architecture and to comply with the new safety goals of automotive systems. This paper shows the current smart power developments for E-Fuse applications in 12V and 48V power bus. Future evolutions of Vertical Intelligent Power devices and technologies capable of integrating advanced safety mechanisms based on real-time monitoring of the Power MOSFET health will be anticipated.