Electric and Electronic Systems for Vehicles

Paolo S. Crovetti

Electric Power Distribution Network in a Vehicle

The electric power from the alternator (when a vehicle is running) or from the car battery
(when the vehicle is parked) is made available to all electric loads, which are placed in a vehicle
on the basis of their function, through a power distribution network including a relevant number of
electrical cables.
Electric cable sizing is a critical issue, since it has a strong impact on the safety, on the efficiency
and on the fabrication costs of a vehicle. Moreover, suitable protection mechanisms should be
included in the power distribution network to avoid potential safety issues which may arise if the
voltages/currents on the network exceed their specified values and/or if the operating temperature
is abnormally high.
The most important aspects that should be considered when sizing the cables for the power
distribution network in a vehicle are discussed in the following. Then, the protection devices
included in the power distribution network in order to avoid safety issues are presented.

Electrical Cable Sizing

Let us suppose that an electric load is to be connected to the alternator in a vehicle1 , which is
physically located at a distance l. To this purpose, both the negative and the positive terminals
of the alternator and of the load should be connected. Two electrical conductors are therefore
required. One of such conductors (typically the one at the lower voltage, which is also assumed as
the reference voltage) is usually the chassis of the vehicle. The positive terminal voltage, i.e. the
collector node, instead, should be connected to the load by an electric cable.
An electric cable includes an inner part of conductive material (typically copper), which provides
the electrical connection, and an insulation overcoat, made of insulating material, which surrounds
the cable to keep the internal conductor electrically insulated from other conductors. When a cable
for a given connection is to be employed, both the conductor and the insulation overcoat should
be chosen properly.
1
For the sake of simplicity, it is supposed that just one load is connected to the alternator and there is no other
load connected on the same cable between the load and the alternator. This case is of practical interest since, even
if many electrical loads need to be connected to the collector node, each load is typically connected directly to the
alternator (star topology). The reason of this choice will be discussed in the following.

When choosing the insulation overcoat for a cable, the following aspects should be taken into
account:
Breakdown voltage: when the inner conductor of a cable is placed in proximity of another conductor (e.g. the chassis of the vehicle), a voltage difference between the conductor within
the cable and the external conductor arises. Whenever this voltage exceeds the breakdown
voltage VMAX of the insulation overcoat, the dielectric material of the overcoat undergoes a
dielectric breakdown phenomenon2 , i.e. a highly conductive path between the internal and of
the external conductor is generated through the isolation overcoat and the isolating material
of the overcoat is often destroyed. In order to avoid the breakdown phenomenon, which can
be highly destructive and gives rise to serious hazards, the insulation overcoat of a cable
should be chosen taking into account of the maximum voltage that may arise between the
cable internal conductor and the other conductors located in proximity.
Maximum Operating Temperature: insulation overcoats are typically made by plastic materials which can be degraded and/or melted if the operating temperature increases. As a
consequence, a maximum operating temperature TMAX is specified for any cable. When an
electrical cable is to be chosen, its maximum operating temperature under nominal operating
conditions should be considered (e.g. a cable to be employed close to the thermal engine
should operate at much higher temperatures with respect to a cable designed to be placed in
the boot). In order to evaluate the operating temperature of a cable, the ambient temperature
and the cable self-heating due to the Joule effect3 should be also taken into account.
Chemical Agent Resistance: some plastic materials can be degraded when put into contact
with the chemicals that can be found on a vehicle. As a consequence, the compatibility of a
cable with the chemical environment in which it will be placed should be considered.
For what concerns the conductive material, it can be observed the electrical resistance of a cable
of length l is related to the section S of the conductor by the second Ohms law
R=

l
S

(1)

where is the resistivity of the conductor. In particular, for copper wires = 16.8n m, as
a consequence, to fix the ideas, a 1m cable, with a circular section with diameter 1mm has an
electrical resistance of about 20m. The choice of the conductor section in a cable is therefore
related to the low electrical resistance requirement for electrical interconnects, taking into account
of the cost and mass penalty that is related with the adoption of large section cables.
The requirement of a low electrical resistance of interconnects arises because of three different
issues, that will be discussed in the following:
voltage drop along the cable;
electric power loss due to Joule effect;
conductor self-heating due to the dissipated power.
2
3

The physical mechanism is similar to the one which gives rise to lighting during thunderstorms.
This aspect will be further discussed in the following.

Figure 1: Electric load connected to the alternator by a cable.

1.1

Voltage Drop

The connection of an electric load to the alternator by an electric cable, as depicted in Fig.1 is now
considered. Assuming that the load absorbs an electric power PL , which corresponds to a current
IL =

PL
PL
'
,
VL
VG

where VG is the generator voltage (collector node) and VL is the voltage across the load, it can be
observed that VL is less than VG because of the voltage drop on the cable resistance
V = VG VL = IL R '

PL
R.
VG

(2)

To fix the ideas, supposing PL = 100W, VG = 14V and R = 20m (1 m long copper cable with
1 mm diameter) a voltage drop on the cable of about 150mV arises.
Since most electric and electronic systems require an accurate power supply voltage, such a
voltage drop could negatively impact on their operation. To this purpose, however, it should be
observed that most electric and electronic systems in a vehicle include a devoted voltage regulator
circuit which provides a very accurate, constant power supply voltage to sensitive circuits even
though the external supply undergoes significant fluctuations. The fluctuations on the load voltage
due to the resistive voltage drop on electric cables is typically negligible with respect to other
fluctuations in the collector node voltage (e.g. the fluctuation with temperature related to the
butterfly diagram, the reduced supply voltage when the alternator is not running and the energy
is provided by the battery,. . . ) and it is typically not a main issue to be considered when sizing
electric cables.

1.2

Power Loss

The current flowing through the cable resistance R gives rise to power dissipation because of the
Joule effect. Hence, being IL the load current, PL the electric power delivered to the load and VL
the voltage across the load, a power
2
2
PL
PL
PC = IL2 R =
R'
R
VL
VG
is dissipated in the cable and, being PG the power delivered by the generator (e.g. the alternator),
it follows that
PG = PL + PC
3

and the efficiency of the connection can be evaluated as

=

PL
PL
=
=
PG
PL + PC

PL +

PL
2
PL
VG

=
R

1
.
1 + PVL2R

(3)

Assuming PL = 500W and R = 20m (1 m long copper cable with 1 mm diameter), one gets from
(3) that the power efficiency is about 95%.
On the basis of (3) it can be observed that the energy transfer efficiency decreases for an
increasing power delivered to the loads. Since the power requested by electric and electronic
systems in present day vehicles is always increasing, electric power dissipation in cables gives rise
to a significant penalty in terms of efficiency. Even though this issue could be addressed by wiring
sizing, this is not convenient from an economic point of view4 .
From Eqn.(3) it can be also observed that the electric efficiency also depends on the generator
voltage VG . Power losses, in fact, are related with the current flowing through cables. For a
given power delivered to the load, if the power supply voltage is increased and the load current is
consequently reduced, the power dissipated in cables is reduced and a higher efficiency is achieved.
This is the main reason why electric systems on vehicles based on a 50V power supply voltage
(battery voltage of 42V) are now being investigated. Considering the previous example (PL =
500W, R = 20m, 1 m long copper cable with 1 mm diameter), on the basis of (3) one gets that
the power efficiency would be increased up to 99.6% in a 50V system.

1.3

Conductor Self-Heating

The electric power that is dissipated in cables because of the Joule effect is converted into heat,
giving rise to a temperature increase. It has been previously observed that the cable temperature
should be kept below a maximum value TMAX in order to avoid the melting of the insulating
overcoat. Moreover, the wiring temperature must be limited because of safety reasons (the wiring
harness can be either directly or indirectly into contact with flammable or exploding material, with
the driver and/or the passengers. . . ). Such safety requirements must necessarily be met in order
to avoid serious hazards hence the limitation in the cable temperature is the main objective that
is considered when sizing the wires to be employed in a vehicle. Before addressing the choice of
wiring section S taking into account of this aspect, some concepts concerning the heat propagation
are revised.
1.3.1

Heat Propagation

On the basis of the second principle of Thermodynamics, the heat propagates from one body at
temperature T to the external environment, at temperature Ta provided that T > Ta .
Assuming, for the sake of simplicity, a linear heat propagation model, the thermal power P (heat
flow5 ) which flows from the body at temperature T to the external environment at temperature
Ta < T can be expressed by the Fourier heat propagation law as
P = GTH (T Ta ) = GTH T,

(4)

4
In a present day vehicle, the overall length of wires and cables can be of the order of 10 km. Assuming that all
conductors have a circular section with a diameter 1, mm, the volume of copper that is required for electrical connections would be 7.85dm3 . Being the density of copper 8.9g/cm3 , the copper mass would be about 70kg, comparable
with the mass of a passenger. Being the price of copper about 8000$/ton, the cost of the copper required for the
wiring of a vehicle is about $500-$600. As a consequence, doubling the section of conductors in order to reduce losses
of a factor of two, implies doubling the wiring mass and the costs for copper and this is not acceptable.
5
The heat flow has the dimensions of an energy for unit time, hence of a power. In the case of the power dissipated
by Joule effect, such a power corresponds with the electrical dissipated power.

where the constant GTH is the overall thermal conductivity from the body to the external environment. Equivalently,
P
T =
= P RTH ,
GTH
where RTH is the thermal resistance.
As far as a body (e.g. an electric or electronic component) does not dissipate any thermal power,
it tends to reach the thermal equilibrium with the surrounding environment, i.e. its temperature
T equals the ambient temperature Ta and so T = 0. As soon as some thermal power P is
generated inside the body (e.g. the power resulting by electrical power dissipation because of the
Joule effect), such a power cannot be immediately delivered to the external environment because
the temperature difference between the body and the environment is initially zero and the heat
cannot flow from two bodies at the same temperature. The thermal energy6 Q that is not delivered
to the external environment remains within the body and its temperature T , which is assumed to
be uniform inside the body, increases with respect to the ambient temperature proportionally to
the amount of accumulated heat Q, i.e.
T = T Ta =

Q
CTH

(5)

where CTH is the thermal capacitance.

Taking the time derivative of (6), one gets
dT
1 dQ
=
dt
CTH dt

(6)

where the l.h.s. is the rate of change of the temperature difference between the body and the
external environment, while the heat flow accumulated in the body, i.e. the difference between the
generated power P and the power delivered to the environment Pa , appears in the r.h.s. of the
equation, i.e.
dQ
= P Pa = P GTH T
(7)
dt
where the relation (4) between the temperature difference T and the amount of heat delivered to
the environment has been considered.
Replacing Eqn.(7) in Eqn.(6)
dT
P GTH T
=
(8)
dt
CTH
or
dT
P
T
=

.
(9)
dt
CTH RTH CTH
It can be observed that this last equation is formally analogous to the one that describes the
evolution of the voltage across the capacitor in the circuit of Fig.2. In particular, it can be noticed
that an analogy between temperature and voltage, between dissipated power and current, between
thermal and electrical resistance and between thermal and electrical capacitance can be established.
By solving Eqn.(6) assuming that P is constant over time and considering the initial condition
T (0) = 0 (thermal equilibrium at t = 0), one gets

t
T (t) = P RTH 1 e TH
(10)
6

The quantity of heat, which has the dimensions of an energy and is measured in Joule, is indicated in the following
with Q.

Figure 2: Thermal equivalent circuit of a device dissipating a thermal power P .

where TH = RTH CTH it the thermal time constant of the system. The evolution over time of the
temperature difference T between the device and the external environment is reported in Fig.3.
With reference to Fig.3, it can be observed that the temperature difference increases with time
almost linearly for t TH being
T (t) ' P RTH

t
TH

Pt
Q
E
=
=
CTH
CTH
CTH

t TH

(11)

where Q is the overall quantity of heat that is generated from t = 0, which corresponds, for an
electric or electronic device, to the energy E dissipated into heat (e.g. by the Joule effect). It
can be observed that, immediately after the heat dissipation process starts, almost all the heat
generated within a body remains in the device increasing its temperature.
On the other hand, for t TH , the temperature difference T approaches the steady-state
value
T (t) ' P RTH
t TH
(12)
In such a steady state condition, the temperature difference between the body and the external
environment is so that the heat flow from the device to the external environment is equal to the
heat flow generated in the device. As a consequence, no more heat is accumulated in the body and
its temperature does not increase further.
1.3.2

Cable Sizing

On the basis of the analysis described so far, the power dissipation in a conductor gives rise, under
steady state conditions, to an increase in its temperature with respect to the ambient temperature
given by
T = P RTH .
(13)
6

Figure 3: Time domain waveform of the temperature difference T between a body dissipating a
constant thermal power P starting from t = 0 and the external environment.
For an electric cable, being
P = PDISS = RI 2
the power dissipated by Joule effect, where R is the electrical resistance of the cable and I is the
current flowing through it, it follows that (13) can be written as
T = RI 2 RTH .

(14)

Taking into account of (1), it follows that

T =

l 2
I RTH
S

(15)

where l is the cable length, S is the conductor section and is its resistivity.
Since the thermal conductivity of a body is proportional to the heat exchange surface Sl , if a
circular section conductor is considered, the thermal resistance RTH can be expressed in the form
RTH =

h
h
=
Sl
2rl

where h is a constant which depends on the characteristics of the materials and on the cable
placement, and r is the conductor radius, which can be expressed in terms of its section surface S
as
r
S
r=

since
S = r2 .
In conclusion, one gets that

h
RTH =
.
2 Sl

hence
T =

h
l 2 h
I
= 3 I2
S 2 Sl
2 S 2
7

(16)

where it can be observed that the temperature increase in a wire is not related with its length.
Assuming that a temperature increase T < T ? is requested, where T ? is the maximum
temperature difference that can be accepted taking into account of safety requirements (such a
value is typically less than 10 C), it should be

that gives

h
2
?
3 I < T
2
2 S

(17)

h
S 3/2 >
I2
2 T ?

(18)

and finally

S>

2 T ?

2
3

I3.

(19)

On the basis of (19), it can be observed that, for a given material, cable placement, and maximum
temperature difference T ? , the minimum cable section to meet safety requirements is proportional
to the current flowing through the cable risen to 4/3.

Protections

Any electric system, like the overall electric plant in a vehicle or a single load, undergoes malfunctions and/or permanent damages in the event of:
Overcurrent When the current flowing in a conductor exceeds the maximum value for which
it has been designed, the conductor temperature increases as discussed in the previous section and this may induce the melting of the conductor and/or of its insulating overcoat (if
present). This is true both for the electric cables in a vehicle and for the microscopic metal
interconnects (bonding wires, integrated metal lines) within integrated circuits. In this last
case, the situation is ever worse since the section of such conductors is extremely small.
A typical overcurrent event arises when an accidental power supply short circuit is established,
i.e. when the positive and the negative terminals of the power supply are connected together
through a (very) low resistance path. Such an event may occur in a vehicle when a conductor,
electrically connected to the collector node, is put into contact with the vehicle chassis, which
is typically connected to the negative terminals of the battery and of the alternator. The
very high currents developed within the conductors involved in the short circuit bring about
a high temperature increase which easily induces the melting of the wiring overcoat with a
consequent extension of the short-circuit contact surface. In such a scenario, a fire is likely
to be started, especially if the cable undergoing the short circuit is located in proximity of
flammable material. Moreover, the power supply short circuit gives rise to a sudden decrease
in the collector node voltage that impairs the operation of all electric and electronic systems
(ABS control unit, engine control unit,. . . ), with a further severe safety hazard.
Other overcurrent events may arise in electric and electronic components because of malfunction and/or misuse.

Overvoltage As soon as the voltage that is applied between the terminals of an electric or electronic equipment exceeds the maximum value for which it has been designed, the isolation
elements included in it may undergo a dielectric breakdown, which has been previously introduced when discussing the isolation overcoat of electric cables. A relevant overvoltage on the
collector node can be destructive for all electric and electronic components on a vehicle, since
such components are designed to sustain voltages slightly above the nominal power supply
voltage of 14.5V (typically 20V or slightly more).
Significant overvoltages at the collector node may arise whenever a heavy load (and in particular the car battery) is suddenly disconnected when the alternator is active. The current
delivered by the alternator, in fact, remains almost constant immediately after7 the disconnection of an electric load (the alternatore has an inductive behavior) and such an excessive
current gives rise to an increase in the collector node voltage. As far as the battery is connected, such an excess current is mainly absorbed by the battery and the collector node voltage
undergoes a relatively small increase. On the contrary, in the event that the battery is not
connected, and/or the battery has been suddenly disconnected (load dump phenomenon), the
collector node voltage can easily increase up to 100V-150V and only after a time in the hundred millisecond range can be effectively reduced by the alternator voltage regulator. Such a
situation can be destructive for most electric and electronic systems in a vehicle unless proper
countermeasures are taken.
Other overvoltage conditions may arise in the event of a malfunction in some components of
the electric plant (e.g.: of the alternator voltage regulator) and/or because of misuse (e.g.
battery polarity inversion, wrong battery voltage. . . ).
Overtemperature Part of the electric power that is absorbed by electric systems in vehicles and
all the power absorbed by electronic systems for information processing is converted into heat.
A certain heat dissipation with a consequent increase in the temperature of an electric and/or
an electronic system is therefore physiological and should be taken into account in the design
stage. In particular, the case of an electric/electronic system should be chosen an placed so
that the heat dissipated in its nominal operation is properly delivered to the surrounding
environment without an excessive and potentially harmful increase of device temperature is
induced. In order to meet such a requirement, it can be necessary to include heat dissipators
and/or air or fluid cooling systems.
Beside its physiological heat dissipation, an electric/electronic device may undergo an unexpected and potentially harmful temperature increase in pathological operating conditions
(e.g. malfunction, unappropriate use or mounting, . . . ). It is therefore necessary to highlight
pathological overtemperature conditions and to address them properly both for safety reasons
and to avoid permanent damages in the device.
In order to avoid hazards and damaging related to overcurrent, overvoltage and overtemperature
conditions or, at least, to limit the consequences of such events, electric and electronic devices on
vehicles are equipped with several protections, which are discussed in the following.

The alternator voltage regulator, takes a small but non negligible time in order to reduce the collector node
voltage by reducing the field excitation current.

Figure 4: Star-type load connection topology.

2.1

Overcurrent Protections

Two overcurrent protections will be presented in the following: the fuses and the active overcurrent
protections. The first type of protection is more invasive and is mainly aimed to protect the electric
power plant of a vehicle in the event of a power supply short circuit, whereas the second type of
protection is intended to protect an electronic equipment in the presence of an anomalous current
absorption.
2.1.1

Fuses

A fuse is a conductive element with controlled electrical and thermal characteristics, to be connected
in series to an electrical interconnect (e.g. a cable) so that to melt, interrupting the electrical circuit,
if an excessive and potentially harmful current is flowing. In order to make the fuse action the
most effective and the less invasive as possible, electric loads are individually connected to the
alternator by a dedicated interconnect (star connection topology), as depicted in Fig.4. In a star
connection topology, in fact, whenever a fuse intervenes, only the branch in which a pathological
behavior (e.g. a short circuit) has occurred is disconnected from the supply, while other loads keep
operating properly giving the driver the possibility to put the vehicle in safety conditions.
In order to describe the fuse intervention properly, the thermal analysis, that has been presented
in Sect.1.3.1., will be considered. Let us suppose that a fuse is fabricated by a material with a
melting temperature Tf and which is operating under nominal conditions, at ambient temperature
Ta . According to the analysis presented above, starting from the time instant t = 0 in which an
overcurrent8 I starts flowing, the fuse temperature T can be expressed as

where
8

T = Ta + T

(20)

t
T (t) = P RTH 1 e TH .

(21)

A constant overcurrent is assumed for the sake of simplicity.

10

Immediately after the onset of the overcurrent, i.e. for t th = RTH CTH , in particular,
T =

E
Pt
RI 2 t
=
=
CTH
CTH
CTH

(22)

where E is the energy dissipated by the fuse from the onset of the overcurrent (t = 0), which is
given by the average power P = RI 2 dissipated by the Joule effect times the time t from the instant
in which the overcurrent condition arises.
On the basis of (20) one gets that the fuse melts when
T = Ta + T = Tf

(23)

i.e., according with (22), under the hypothesis that t TH , when

RI 2 t
= Tf
CTH

(24)

CTH (Tf Ta )
.
R

(25)

Ta +
i.e. for
I 2t =

Eqn.(25) expresses the condition under which the fuse intervenes, i.e. it melts breaking the electrical
circuit. It can be observed that, for t TH , the fuse intervention does not depend on the current
I in itself, but rather on the square of the current times the time t for which such a current is
applied, i.e. to the energy E = RI 2 t that is dissipated in the fuse. The I 2 t quantity is reported in
the datasheet of a fuse and the impact of the operating temperature Ta on such a quantity is also
given.
It should be stressed that Eqn.(25) is only valid for t TH . If the current I is applied for a
time which is much longer than TH , the intervention condition can be expressed as
Tf = Ta + P RTH = Ta + RI 2 RTH
i.e. as

r
I=

Tf Ta
.
RTH R

(26)

(27)

Such a current represents the minimum current I that gives rise to the fuse melting provided that
it is applied for an indefinitely long time. It follows that a smaller current can flow indefinitely
through the fuse without any consequence. On the basis of (27), taking into account of a safety
margin, the maximum current which can be sustained by a fuse without causing its intervention
can be derived. Such a current is known as the fuse rated current or nominal current.
Together with the information concerning the I 2 t and the rated current, the fuse time-current
characteristic is often reported in the datasheet of a fuse. Such a curve gives the fuse response time
versus the applied current in a log-log scale and shows the typical behavior reported in Fig.5. On
the basis of Eqn.(25), taking the logarithm of both sides, one gets that
2 log I + log t = log

CTH (Tf Ta )
= .
R

(28)

hence, for t less than th

log t = 2 log I + .

11

(29)

Figure 5: Fuse time-current characteristics.

and the curve in Fig.5 has a slope of 2. For a time above TH it can be observed that the
intervention current, according with (27), tends to an asymptotic value on the basis of which the
fuse rated current is defined.
The plot in Fig.5 can be employed in order to choose the fuse that is best suited to a target
application. In order to choose a fuse, the overcurrent conditions (in terms of current flowing and
application time) under which the cable to be protected undergoes damaging should be taken into
account. To this purpose, the curve describing the cable damaging condition has been reported
in Fig.6 on the same log t log I plane of the fuse intervention characteristics. With reference to
such a figure, it should be verified that the cable damaging characteristics is completely over the
fuse intervention characteristics9 . Moreover, it should be verified that the fuse does not intervene
when the nominal current is flowing through the cable. To this purpose, the current absorption
peaks that could be experienced by the device under particular conditions (e.g. at startup) should
be taken into account.
The nominal voltage of a fuse is also indicated in the datasheet. Such a parameter indicates the
maximum voltage that can be sustained by a fuse after its intervention, i.e. when it is expected
that it operates as an open circuit. If a fuse with a nominal voltage which is too low is employed,
in the event of an overcurrent the fuse may intervene properly, nonetheless a dielectric breakdown
phenomenon may arise between its terminals. Such a breakdown provides a low impedance path
for the overcurrent, thus impairing the protection effect of the fuse.

for a given time t, the damaging current for the cable should be larger than the intervention current of the fuse.

12

Figure 6: Fuse sizing.

13

Figure 7: Active Overcurrent Protection.

2.1.2

Active Overcurrent Protections

An anomalous current absorption in an electric electronic system, even though it is not so relevant
to be a safety hazard, always indicates a malfunction and could give rise to further damaging and/or
inconveniences. It is therefore advisable to switch off the power supply of electric and electronic
equipment with an anomalous current absorption. To this purpose, every electric and electronic
device in a vehicle is equipped with an internal protection mechanism which intervenes whenever
the current absorption from the power supply is excessive.
The operation principle of such an active protection is illustrated with reference to Fig.7. With
reference to such a figure, it can be observed that the current absorbed from the power supply
flows through a resistor RS , indicated as the sense resistor, with a sufficiently small value so that
its impact on electric power loss and power dissipation are negligible. The voltage V = RS I across
the sense resistor is the input voltage of a threshold comparator which compares it with a threshold
voltage VTH . The threshold voltage and the sense resistor values are chosen so that
RS IMAX = VTH .

(30)

where IMAX is the maximum current allowed in the conductor before the intervention of the protection.
By so doing, under nominal operation
RS I < VTH

(31)

and the comparator output is a low logical level. On the contrary, when the current absorbed from
the power supply exceeds IMAX ,
RS I > VTH ,
(32)
and the comparator output voltage commutates.
Supposing that the comparator output is directly connected to the switch control terminal,
such a switch is opened at the onset of an overcurrent event. In this case, however, as soon as the
switch is open, the overcurrent condition is removed. As a consequence, if the switch is directly
operated by the comparator output, it would be closed again as soon as the current is below VRTH
S
and the overcurrent condition could arise again, the switch would be open again giving rise to a
14

highly undesirable oscillating behavior. In order to avoid such a behavior, a latch L, which is a
memory element, is introduced as depicted in Fig.7. The data input of such a latch is connected
to the digital power supply, its clock input is connected to the comparator output and the output
of the latch is connected to the control terminal of the power supply switch.
At power on, the latch element is reset so that its output is at a low logical value, which
corresponds to the nominal operating conditions (power supply switch closed). As soon as the
protection intervenes, the latch enters the transparent state and the latch output goes to a high
logic value. If the comparator output voltage drops to a low logical value, the latch enters into the
memory state and the logical value of its output remains high. As a consequence, the device to be
protected is kept unconnected from the power supply until a system startup (e.g. until the next
cranking).

15

Figure 8: Ideal current-voltage characteristic of a passive overvoltage protection.

Figure 9: Passive overvoltage protections: a) Zener diode, b) Series-connected diodes, c) Anti-series

connected Zener diodes.

2.2

Overvoltage Protections

Electronic devices are protected from overvoltage on their power supply rails by passive overvoltage
protections, also known as transient suppressors and/or by active overvoltage protections.
2.2.1

Passive Overvoltage Protections

A passive overvoltage protection device can be connected in parallel to the power supply of a device
in order to protect it from overvoltages. Such a protection should not conduct any current as far
as the power supply voltage is at an acceptable level and, in the event of an overvoltage, it should
sink a suitable current (as high as it is required) so that the load voltage is kept at an acceptable
value VMAX . The current-voltage characteristic of a device to be employed for this purpose should
be therefore similar to the one reported in Fig.8.
The characteristics in Fig.8 is similar to the characteristic of a diode, which does not conduct
electrical current as far as its terminal voltage is below V while, as soon as it enters in conduction,
it keeps its terminal voltage to a specified value V . Passive overvoltage protections are practically
obtained by connecting several diodes in series, so that their overall threshold voltage is equal to the
maximum voltage that can be sustained by the device to be protected. An analogous behavior can
be obtained by exploiting technologically different devices (e.g. Zener diodes, properly connected
transistors) which show the same electrical behavior. Some of the device configurations that can
16

Figure 10: Equivalent circuit of an overvoltage protection under non-intervention condition (a) and
intervention conditions (b).

Figure 11: Passive overvoltage protection intervention.

be employed as passive overvoltage protections are reported in Fig.9.
The main characteristics of a passive overvoltage protection are its clamping voltage, i.e. the
(over)voltage for which it intervenes, its response time Tr , i.e. the time between the onset of the
overvoltage event and the protection intervention, and the maximum energy which can be dissipated
by the protection EMAX . A protection, in particular, should be chosen so that it intervenes limiting
the voltage across a device before such a voltage increases up to values which can be harmful for
the device to be protected.
In order to discuss the energy that must be dissipated by a protection in the event of an
overvoltage, the configuration in Fig.10 can be considered. With reference to the circuit in Fig.10b,
in particular, neglecting the current flowing through the load10 , the current flowing through the
protection is given by
v(t) VMAX
i(t) =
(33)
R
where v(t) is the collector node open-circuit voltage, VMAX is the clamping voltage of the pro10

This is a worst-case condition, that corresponds to the situation in which the device to be protected is off during
the overvoltage event.

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tection and R is the equivalent resistance that is seen from the power supply of the device. The
instantaneous power that is dissipated by the protection can be therefore evaluated as
P (t) = VMAX i(t) = VMAX

v(t) VMAX
.
R

(34)

Assuming that the overvoltage event is extinguished in a time TC , the overall energy dissipated
by the protection will be given by
Z
E=
0

TC

TC

P (t)dt =
0

VMAX

v(t) VMAX
dt
R

(35)

and will be therefore proportional to the area highlighted in Fig.11. Since TC is typically much
smaller than the thermal time constant of the protection, according to the analysis presented before,
such a protection undergoes a temperature increase
T =

E
.
CTH

(36)

Being TMAX the maximum temperature which can be sustained by the protection before irreversible damaging occurs and Ta the nominal operating temperature, it should be
Ta + T = Ta +

E
< TMAX
CTH

(37)

hence the maximum energy EMAX which can be dissipated by the protection can be expressed as
EMAX = CTH (TMAX Ta ) .

(38)

A passive overvoltage protection is therefore chosen on the basis of the characteristics in terms
of amplitude and duration of the overvoltage events to which the power supply voltage of a device
is subjected.
Passive overvoltage protections described so far are particularly suited to the protection of
electric/electronic systems from transient overvoltages, which are very common on a vehicle since
they are originated whenever an inductive load is switched off. It can be observed that such
protections are fast (response time of the order of 1ns) and minimally invasive, since they absorb
the energy related to the overvoltage, allowing the proper operation of the protected equipment
during the overvoltage event. Nonetheless the limited maximum energy that can be absorbed by
such devices makes them effective only for short overvoltages.

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Figure 12: Active Overvoltage Protection.

2.2.2

Active Overvoltage Protection

Electric and electronic devices on vehicles need to be protected not only from transient overvoltages,
but also from overvoltages and/or wrong power supply voltages due to an improper use/connection
and/or due to malfunctions (e.g. a malfunction in the alternator voltage regulator). The passive
protections, which have been presented so far, are not effective if a wrong power supply voltage is
applied since they are typically not capable of dissipating energy in a continuous way.
In order to address the above issue, active overvoltage protections are also employed in electric
and electronic devices on vehicles. Such protections disconnect an electrical load from the power
supply whenever the power supply voltage exceeds the maximum acceptable value VMAX .
Such protections, whose principle schematic is reported in Fig.12, typically include a threshold
comparator which compares a partition of the power supply voltage with a reference voltage. The
voltage partition factor and the threshold voltage are chosen so that
VMAX

R1
= VREF ,
R1 + R2

(39)

and whenever the power supply voltage exceeds VMAX , the comparator output voltage, which is
normally at a low logical level, goes to a high logical value and the switch connecting the electrical
load to the supply, which is driven on the basis of the comparator output voltage, is turned off. As
a consequence, the device to be protected is unconnected from the power supply voltage as far as a
safe power supply voltage below VMAX is applied. It should be observed that the switch connecting
the power supply to the load should be chosen so that it is not damaged by the overvoltage event.
It can be observed that an active overvoltage protection typically has a response time that is
higher than a passive overvoltage protection and therefore it cannot be suitable to protect a circuit
from fast transients. Moreover, an active overvoltage protection is more invasive than a passive
protection since it turns off the device to be protected when it intervenes.
Taking into account of the different and complementary characteristics of active and passive
overvoltage protections, both protections are typically employed for electric and electronic devices
on vehicles. In this case, the active protection is typically designed to have response time which is
longer than the passive one, so that the active protection is triggered only if the overvoltage event
is long and the corresponding energy cannot be dissipated by the passive protection.

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Figure 13: Active overcurrent protection.

2.3

Overtemperature Protection

The devices which are employed to protect electric and electronic systems in vehicles from overtemperature are similar in their operation to the active overcurrent protection circuits described above.
The principle schematic of an overtemperature protection circuit is reported in Fig.13. With reference to such a schematic, it can be observed that a threshold comparator whose inputs are
connected to a temperature independent reference voltage VREF and to a circuit which generates a
voltage V (T ) which depends on temperature (typically it increases with temperature). The device
generating V (T ) can be regarded as a temperature sensor and should be thermally coupled to the
device to be protected.
Assuming that V (T ) increases with temperature and that the reference voltage VREF is chosen
so that
V (TMAX ) = VREF ,
where TMAX is the maximum operating temperature that can be sustained by the system to be
protected, the comparator output, which is normally at a low logic level, commutates to high value
when the temperature raises above the maximum value. In this case, the comparator output drives
the power supply switch of the circuit to be protected turning it off. Like the active overcurrent
protection circuit, the circuit should not be switched on again immediately after the temperature has
dropped below TMAX . To this purpose, the latch element L is introduced in the same configuration
and with the same function of the latch included in the active overcurrent protection.
At power on, the latch element is reset so that its output is at a low logical value, which
corresponds to the nominal operating conditions (power supply switch closed). As soon as the
protection intervenes, the latch enters the transparent state and the latch output goes to a high
logic value. If the comparator output voltage drops to a low logical value, the latch enters into the
memory state and the logical value of its output remains high. As a consequence, the device to be
protected is kept unconnected from the power supply until a system startup (e.g. until the next
cranking).

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