[2024] Project 4 at Nexperia: Wide supply range Level Shifter for Energy Harvesting Systems

Background
Level shifters are important building blocks in complex systems that have multiple voltage-supply domains. They translate digital signals from one supply domain, the input supply, to another, the output supply. If one of the supplies is not well defined (either it is turned off or the voltage is undefined, as is a common scenario in energy harvesting systems), its output is also not solid '1' or '0’. A logic gate connected to such an output will present severe leakage, resulting in high current consumption and, in most cases in energy harvesting, system failure.

Goal
The goal of this project is to design a level shifter that presents a well-defined output
voltage for any combination/range of input/output supply voltages. The ideal level shifter is intrinsically safe and does not require external voltage monitors to check supply voltage levels.

Assignment

• Literature study on level shifters for energy harvesting systems
• In-depth study on the optimization of wide-suppy-range level shifters
• Conceptual design (mixed-signal IC) of a system to implement the above-mentioned optimization
• Schematic design (mixed-signal IC) verified for typical conditions
• Optionally: Schematic design including verification for process, temperature, and voltage variation
• Optionally: Layout design of the system

Requirements

MSc student in Electrical Engineering, the Microelectronics track. Please send me your list of courses, incl. the grades achieved, and a brief motivation email. An onsite interview will be part of the selection procedure.

Contact

Last modified: 2024-04-04