Configurable Integrated Power Input/Output Systems for Avionic Applications

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Thales Canada's develops control systems for avionics applications, which operate in harsh environments that may compromise the functionality of very high density chips: electromagnetic interference, lightning strikes and cosmic radiations. The company needs to develop a generic power interface for different avionics applications with a high level of criticality : flight control, spoilers control, flaps control. However, such circuitry requires a lot of space on PCBs when implemented as discrete components, such as in the company's existing products. A reasonable trade-off between ASICs and discrete components is the concept of System in Package (SiP). SiP allows more than one integrated circuit inside the same package with very dense interconnects between bare-dies. Also, SiP technology now allows chips of heterogeneous technologies to be integrated inside the same package, giving designers more flexibility. Heterogeneous integration of high power and high voltage systems along with lower power systems through SiP technologies in a high reliability context suited to avionics is the focus of this collaborative research project. While ASIC are an attractive solution, robustness problems, such as dielectric breakdown, may emerge when considering high voltage inputs. Ultimately, SiP integration of the entire power system would be a significant reduction in the PCB dimensions for the power circuits and potentially enhanced functionality. Accordingly, the main objective of the research project is to elaborate methods and techniques to design compact, configurable and integrated input/output power systems for transportation vehicles under harsh conditions. A collection of highly flexible and reconfigurable elements to support a plurality of monitoring and controlling functions for power systems will be investigated. These methods and techniques will allow integrating these heterogeneous elements into a minimum set of SiP modules. Upon successful completion of this research, a new flexible power system will be configurable according to different specifications in terms of power, response time and accuracy that are required in the avionics industries.