Design of a high voltage high side driver with programmable output current

The design and laboratory tests of a high voltage driver with programmable output current are presented. The proposed solution is designed to work in the range of low frequencies (PWM output current up to 100 KHz) and with output currents between 50 mA and 130 mA. The presented topology exploits a feedback loop that allows fixing the output current to the desired value with high precision not easy to achieve with high voltage devices. Measurements performed on a prototype, designed and fabricated in a 0.35 mum Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS technology prove the effectiveness of the proposed solution.