  In this paper we report on a novel simulation tool designed for the 3D
coupled electro-thermal simulation of Smart Power Mosfets, that is a tool
capable of taking into account not only the electrical (and thermal) behaviour
of the power device but also the different driving strategies as they are
imposed by a control logic circuit which usually resides on the same chip. The
simulator is fully developed under Matlab and solves, self consistently, the 3D
heat equation with proper boundary conditions and heat sources. An adaptive
meshing algorithm based on temperature gradients and an optimized time stepping
strategy have also been developed to reduce computational load and speed up
simulation time without loosing accuracy. To validate this approach, simulator
results are finally compared to experimental data obtained on a commercial
Smart Power device used in automotive applications.
