Predictive reliability and prognostics for electronic components: current capabilities and future challenges

Future analysis tools that predict the behavior of electronic components, both during qualification testing and in-service lifetime assessment, will be very important in predicting product reliability and identifying when to undertake maintenance. This paper will discuss some of these techniques and illustrate these with examples. The paper will also discuss future challenges for these techniques.

Predictive reliability, prognostics and risk assessment for power modules

This paper describes a framework that is being developed for the prediction and analysis of electronics power module reliability both for qualification testing and in-service lifetime prediction. Physics of failure (PoF) reliability methodology using multi-physics high-fidelity and reduced order computer modelling, as well as numerical optimization techniques, are integrated in a dedicated computer modelling environment to meet the needs of the power module designers and manufacturers as well as end-users for both design and maintenance purposes. An example of lifetime prediction for a power module solder interconnect structure is described. Another example is the lifetime prediction of a power module for a railway traction control application. Also in the paper a combined physics of failure and data trending prognostic methodology for the health monitoring of power modules is discussed.

Design of differential amplifier with negative impedance compensation

Design of differential amplifier with high gain accuracy and high linearity is presented in the paper. The amplifier design is based on the negative impedance compensation technique reported by the authors in [1]. A negative impedance with high precision, low sensitivity, wide input signal range and simple structure is used for the compensation of differential amplifier. Analysis and simulation results show that gain accuracy and linearity can be improved significantly with the negative impedance compensation

Stability analysis of the amplifier with negative impedance compensation

A novel amplifier design technique based on negative impedance compensation has been proposed in our recent paper. In this paper, we investigate the stability of this amplifier system. The parameter space approach has been used to determine system parameters in the negative impedance circuit such that the stability of the amplifier system can be guaranteed in a certain region represented by those parameters. The simulation results have demonstrated that stable circuit behavior for the amplifier can be achieved

Challenges to Slovakia and Poland health policy decisions: use of investment treaties to claim compensation for reversal of privatisation/liberalisation policies

Investment treaties, and possibly the EU Treaty itself, are being used by multinational companies Penta and Eureko to try and force the Slovak government to pay compensation for reversing health privatisation and liberalisation policies. Similar action has been used against the Polish government by Eureko to win compensation worth nearly 2 billion Euros and a policy commitment to further privatisation.