Smart IGBTs for advanced distribution ignition systems

Driven by factors like fuel consumption, engine power, passenger comfort and emissions standards, the powertrain control area has developed rapidly in the last 20 years. This trend has also brought with it many innovations in the ignition system. Today we can see a trend to pencil-coil or coil-on-plug (CoP) ignition systems. The next step in system partitioning is to move the power driver from the ECU (engine control unit) to the coil body. The advantages of eliminating high voltage wires and reduced power dissipation in the central ECU (using the new partitioning) are paid for with more stringent requirements for the electronic components. These challenging requirements and the other required functions for a decentralized ignition system can be realized in a standard TO220/TO263 package by using specialized technologies for the different functions: IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) technology for power switching, BCD (bipolar CMOS DMOS) technology for protection, supply and diagnostics and chip-on-chip technology for packaging advantages.