Cold-capable SiGe BiCMOS wireline transceivers for distributed electronics systems

This paper describes the design and testing of two cold-capable SiGe BiCMOS wireline transceivers targeted for applications in distributed electronics systems in space-based vehicles. Space-based electronic systems face extremely wide temperature ranges and hazardous radiation that can cause unpredicted behavior in sensitive circuitry. The most common mitigation procedure involves extensive shielding and temperature control in “electronics vaults.” Unfortunately, this practice comes with a high cost in weight, power, and volume. Recently, there h as been a paradigm shift that advocates moving away from these centralized solutions and towards distributed electronic systems. The transceivers presented in this work were designed to be a part of a larger system created to demonstrate that SiGe BiCMOS technology was a viable candidate for implementing extreme environment electronics. Both the RS-485 transceiver and ISO 11898 transmitter will be shown to work robustly up to 20 Mbps and in measurement from 90 K to 390 K, with consistent rise/fall times, propagation delays, and output amplitudes. This work adds a piece to the distributed electronics puzzle by enabling robust communication throughout space-based systems with minimal temperature control.