Advanced Circuit Technologies for Reliable, Low-Cost, High-Temperature Electronic Controls

The Phase II proposal involves the development of a fully functional high temperature Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) assembly with high temperature qualified integrated circuits, passive components and related materials for smart node and data concentrator that are part of a Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) in an airplane that will need to operate over a wide temperature range of -55 °C to 225°C reliably for years. During Phase I, Spectral Energies team demonstrated a high temperature operation capable smart node LTCC system in a package (SIP) with integrated passives. During Phase II, our team will develop the LTCC based smart node and data concentrators for distributed engine control of a specific engine/aircraft rig. The smart node will include a microcontroller and an analog to digital converter integrated circuit for accepting a variety of sensors used in monitoring engines. The LTCC smart nodes and data concentrators will be tested for long term operation >10000 hours. The proposed LTCC modules will also allow us to evaluate passive components for their long term thermal stability as well. Our proposal is timely for developing a fully functional FADEC for a specific aircraft/engine and for understanding the practical tradeoffs with the technology.