System and method for including protective voltage switchable dielectric material in the design or simulation of substrate devices

• US 7,793,236 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2007
• Issued: 09/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Littelfuse Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Shocking Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Kosowsky, Lex, Fleming, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Chiang; Jack
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tat; Binh C
• Application Number:
  US11/860,530
• Publication Number:
  US 20080313576A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,079 Days
• Field of Search: 716/1, 716/2, 716/18
• US Class Current: 716/132
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/39 Circuit design at the physical level physical level design for reconfigurable circuits G06F30/347
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0254 High voltage adaptations; Electrical insulation details; Overvoltage or electrostatic discharge protection electrostatic discharge protection for electric apparatus in general H05K9/0067, H05K9/0079; Arrangements for regulating voltages or for using plural voltages
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0259 Electrostatic discharge [ESD] protection
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0293 Individual printed conductors which are adapted for modification, e.g. fusable or breakable conductors, printed switches
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0373 containing additives, e.g. fillers H05K1/036 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/0738 Use of voltage responsive materials, e.g. voltage switchable dielectric or varistor materials
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2203/105 Using an electrical field; Special methods of applying an electric potential electroplating H05K2203/0723
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/0005 for designing circuits by computer

Abstract

A substrate device is designed by identifying one or more criteria for handling of a transient electrical event on the substrate device. The one or more criteria may be based at least in part on an input provided from a designer. From the one or more criteria, one or more characteristics may be determined for integrating VSD material as a layer within or on at least a portion of the substrate device. The layer of VSD material may be positioned to protect one or more components of the substrate from the transient electrical condition.

Claims

1. A system for enabling design or simulation of at least a portion of a substrate device, the system comprising:

a data store that maintains data that references a first entry representing a first type of voltage switchable dielectric (VSD) material with one or more properties of the first VSD material, the one or more properties of the first VSD material including a value representing a characteristic voltage per designated length, the characteristic voltage per designated length corresponding to a known or designated voltage level value that, when applied across a designated length of the first VSD material, causes the first VSD material to switch from a dielectric state into a conductive state;

a configuration module that determines, from one or more interactions with a designer of the system, (i) one or more dimensional parameters that are based on one or more spatial constraints of the portion or of the substrate, and (ii) a voltage level that is tolerable by one or more electrical components that are to be protected in the portion of the substrate device;

wherein the configuration module determines a gap separation that (i) is to be provided by a layer of the first VSD material on at least the portion of the substrate, and (ii) is to separate at least one electrical component from a protective electrical path on the substrate for transient events, wherein the configuration module determines the gap separation based at least in part on determining (i) a threshold voltage level that will likely cause the first VSD material to switch into the conductive state (ii) based on the characteristic voltage per designated length and a size of the gap separation, wherein the threshold voltage level is less than the tolerable voltage level of the one or more electrical components; and

an optimization component that optimizes a configuration, dimension, or type of the first VSD material based on one or more optimization criteria.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first programmatic component references multiple entries that each reference a corresponding type of VSD material, the multiple entries including the first entry referencing the first VSD material, and wherein the corresponding VSD material of each of the multiple entries has a different composition.

3. An optimization system for enabling design or simulation of at least a portion of a substrate device, the system comprising:

a data store that maintains information about a plurality of types of voltage switchable dielectric (VSD) materials, the information including a characteristic voltage per designated length for each of one or more types of VSD materials, the characteristic voltage per designated length corresponding to a voltage level applied across a designated length of a particular type of VSD material that is likely to trigger the VSD material of the type to switch from being in a dielectric state to being in a conductive state;

a configuration module that determines, from one or more interactions with a designer of the system, (i) one or more dimensional parameters that are based on spatial constraints of the portion or of the substrate, and (ii) a voltage level that is tolerable by one or more electrical elements that are to be protected in the portion of the substrate device;

wherein the configuration module is configured to determine, for any of the plurality of types of VSD materials, a gap separation that (i) is to be occupied by that type of VSD material on at least the portion of the substrate, and (ii) is to separate at least one electrical element from a protective electrical path for transient events, wherein the configuration module is further configured to determine, for any one of the plurality of types of VSD material, the gap separation needed for using a layer of that VSD material to separate the at least one electrical element from the protective electrical path;

an optimization component that is configured to make a selection of at least one of (i) a selected type of VSD material from the plurality of types of VSD material, or (ii) a size of the gap separation for the selected type of VSD material, wherein the optimization component is configured to make the selection based on one or more optimization criteria.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the optimization component is configured to make the selection based at least in part on using a determination of the threshold voltage level needed to switch any of the types of VSD material into the conductive state, the threshold voltage level being determined from (i) the characteristic voltage per designated length for that type of VSD material and the (ii) the size of the gap separation;

and wherein the optimization component makes the selection so that the threshold voltage level is less than the tolerable voltage level of the one or more components.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more optimization criteria correspond to at least one of (i) a cost for using each of the types of VSD material, (ii) a performance of each of the types of VSD material, and (iii) a minimization of the size of the gap separation required by use of each type of VSD material.

6. A system for optimizing application of voltage switchable dielectric material on a substrate device, the system comprising:

an interface, the interface being configured to receive one or more criteria from a designer of the substrate device;

a memory resource that stores information about at least one of the substrate or of various types of voltage switchable dielectric (VSD) material;

a processing resource coupled to the interface and to the memory resource, the processing resource being configured to use the input and the information stored in the memory to;

identify one or more criteria for handling of a transient electrical event on the substrate device;

determine, from the one or more criteria, one or more characteristics for integrating VSD material as a layer within or on at least a portion of the substrate device, the layer of VSD material being positioned to protect one or more components of the substrate from the transient electrical event;

identify one or more optimization criteria for integrating the layer of VSD material onto at least the portion of the substrate; and

optimize the layer of VSD material based on the one or more optimization criteria.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more optimization criteria includes one or more of (i) a cost of the layer of VSD material, (ii) one or more dimensions of the layer of VSD material, and (iii) a performance characteristic of the layer of VSD material.