Embedded Motor Controllers That Target High Temperature Environments

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Arm M3-based motor drivers with 32k and 64k flash memory suitable for automotive drive-train and thermal management applications

Addressing high-temperature applications are the new HVC 4222F and HVC 4422F, embedded motor controllers that can operate smart actuators requiring an ambient temperature of up to 150 degrees Celsius. 

HVC 4222F offers 32k flash memory while the HVC 4422F comes with 64k flash for more complex software implementations, targetting applications in combustion vehicle drive trains and emerging thermal management systems in electric and hybrid vehicles.

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The new devices are part of the automotive-grade, motor controller family for LIN bus connected actuators, integrating a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M3 CPU core with six independent 500 mA half-bridge drivers and a wide range of additional functions to enable compact and cost-efficient motor-control applications, capable of driving small stepper, brushed (BDC) and brushless (BLDC) motors in applications with power requirements up to 1A peak current.

With high processing power, the HVC family implements complex motor control algorithms such as Space Vector Modulation (SVM) for permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM), sensor-less commutation with back electro-magnetic force (BEMF), as well as various stepper algorithms with current limiting and stall detection. 

Main applications

• Radiator grille shutter
• Smart valves and pumps
• LIN bus connected actuators

Main features and benefits

• Supply voltage range from 8 V to 18 V (transient from 4.5 to 40 V)
• 6 x 500 mA (max) half-bridge drivers
• 32-bit Arm Cortex M3 CPU core
• 20 MHz system oscillator, 35 kHz watchdog oscillator
• 32k or 64k flash memory versions with 2k or 4k SRAM
• 12-bit, 1 µs ADC for internal and external measurements
• 2x 8-bit current DAC for motor current limiting from 2 mA to 500 mA
• 12-bit PWM generators with center and edge alignment and ADC triggering
• 16-bit timers for input and output PWM signal handling
• 11 GPIOs for application interfacing
• LIN transceiver for auto-addressing using the bus shunt method
• Small thermally efficient QFN40 package

Samples are now available from TDK Corporation with mass production to begin in Q2 of 2021.