Internship: Analog-Mixed-Signal Design for Power Line Communication

Design and Control of Resonant Charge Recovery Circuits for High Voltage Ground Modulation

Overview:

The ACC department in Eindhoven is part of the worldwide Central Technology Organization (CTO) of NXP that supports all NXP Business Lines by architecting, designing, and delivering the analog and mixed-signal building blocks that are at the heart of competitive NXP products. You will be working in a diverse team with world-class subject matter specialists, where there is always room for new ideas and innovation.

ACC employs about 250 analog/mixed-signal design specialists located in the Netherlands, India, Sweden, and US who take full responsibility for IP design and system integration.

Assignment:

The project focuses on the design and exploration of resonant charge‑recovery circuits for high‑voltage ground‑modulation applications. These circuits use a CLC resonant tank—combining load capacitance, inductance, and configurable buffer capacitances—to efficiently charge and discharge the modulated ground node while recovering energy that would otherwise be dissipated.

You will investigate feedforward and closed‑loop control schemes for amplitude shaping and slope control, including the use of peak‑detection, ADC‑based digital regulation, and tunable buffer‑capacitor configurations. The objective is to understand and design the resonant system that can achieve predictable voltage swings, controlled rising/falling slopes, and improved energy efficiency across modulation frequencies. Ultimately, your work will contribute to developing an improved control architecture for resonant charge‑recovery circuits that minimizes power consumption.

Your Responsibilities:

• Develop In‑Depth Understanding of Resonant Charge‑Recovery Systems.
• Build behavioral and circuit‑level models of the resonant charge‑recovery architecture.
• Design circuit blocks such as resonant switches, buffer‑capacitor tuning networks, peak‑detection circuits, and digital amplitude‑control logic.

Your Profile:

• MSc student in Electronic Engineering or related field with an emphasis on IC design
• Affinity with the state of art analog design/verification flow and tools, preferably with Cadence tooling
• Creative and positive mindset
• Flexible and eager for new challenges
• Excellent communication and documentation skills in English
• Desire for a career in analog/mixed-signal integrated circuit design

Duration 

This internship can also be suitable for a thesis project. It is a full‑time assignment (40 hours per week) with a minimum duration of six months, with the possibility to extend. Please note that, to be considered for an internship or working student position at NXP, you must be enrolled as a student for the entire duration of the assignment.

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