A Latching Current Limiter with Telemetries for Space Applications

In electrical power systems, current limiting circuits are necessary to protect loads and isolate faults to keep the entire network stable. These types of circuits in space applications require integrated solutions to reduce weight, size and improve reliability. This paper presents the design of a latching current limiter (LCL) as a protection device in DC power distribution systems of scientific satellites. The proposed topology of the LCL allows to adjust the limiting current and the trip-off time and eliminates peak current during a short-circuit condition, protecting the payloads. Moreover, the LCL provides a fault indication signal, current and voltage telemetries to check the status of the load. The control loop and telemetry circuits have been developed in 0.6µm CMOS technology. The functionality of the LCL was verified by simulations and by tests on prototyping circuits.