New Industry Products

Programmable PMIC Increases Reliability in Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems

May 13, 2019 by Paul Shepard

The STMicroelectronics L5965 seven-output automotive power-management IC (PMIC) enables more compact and reliable electronic control units for automotive-vision systems and other in-vehicle applications, leveraging direct operation from battery voltage with register-programmable output voltages and sequencing and integrated functional-safety mechanisms.

With seven regulated outputs, a single L5965 can power an entire camera- or radar-based driver-assistance system including the sensors, memory ICs, processor, and CAN interface circuitry. One-time programmable (OTP) cells for setting the output voltages and sequencing give flexibility to configure the PMIC for a wide variety of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and other in-car applications.

The L5965’s ability to operate directly from the vehicle battery allows its use without a pre-regulator. Its register-programmable outputs also eliminate voltage-setting resistors, and the on-chip regulators can be used without external compensation circuitry.  While reducing both footprint and bill of materials, these savings in external components also increase system reliability and enhance accuracy by eliminating fluctuation due to environmental effects on external components.

The integrated functional-safety features are designed in compliance with ISO 26262 and enable systems to fulfil Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) requirements up to ASIL-D. The mechanisms include a failure status pin, voltage monitors, ground-loss comparators, analog and digital Built In Self-Test (BIST), and temperature monitors.

ST is ramping up production of the L5965 and samples are available now in a small and low-cost 7mm x 7mm QFN48 package that requires no heatsink. Budgetary pricing starts at $3.59 for orders of 1000 pieces.