1A Peak Motor Controller with 64KB Flash and 4KB SRAM for Automotive
TDK Corporation expanded its Micronas embedded motor controller portfolio with the HVC 4420F. The new HVC 4420F is part of the Micronas high-voltage controller family (HVC) for smart actuators. The company's new motor controller features extended flash memory for the drive of small brush-type, stepper, or brushless motors. TDK designed it to provide diagnostics capability that is newly introduced in the field of smart actuators.
Currently, OEMs use their own ideas and strategies on diagnostics. This includes sensor data fusion approaches, actuator status, and resulting activities. For implementation, software routines have to activate the underlying hardware diagnostic features to ensure the required data analysis. These routines also must respect the OEMs' framework to ensure proper integration.
Applications for the new motor controller include grill shutters, smart valves and pumps, and HVAC flaps.
The motor controller extends the flash memory to 64KB and SRAM to 4KB. Due to its larger memory and the built-in diagnostic feature set, the HVC 4420F offers the storage capacity and processing capability to execute these actions which are unique in the environment of smart actuators.
Like other members of the HVC family, the 4420F combines an ARM® standard microcontroller core with a wide range of additional functions to enable particularly compact and cost-efficient system designs for use in automotive applications and beyond.
Powered by a 32-bit CPU core (ARM® Cortex®-M3) with 64KB flash memory, the HVC 4420F contains timers/counters, interrupt controllers, multichannel ADC, SPI, and enhanced PWMs with diagnosis functions.
Notably such diagnostic functions are important for use in safety relevant applications.
An advanced LIN UART with a LIN 2.x transceiver as well as voltage regulators connect the device directly to the automotive board net (5.4V to 18V). Several power management modes help reduce the current consumption. Various integrated digital and analog circuit units, including comparators with virtual star point reference, current scaling, and an embedded programmable gain amplifier let users minimize the number of external components.
With its high processing power, the HVC 4420F allows complex motor control algorithms such as Space Vector Modulation (SVM) for permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM), six-step commutation with sensor feedback, or sensorless control, as well as various stepper configurations.
The HVC 4420F optionally comes with production-ready and highly flexible, parameterizable firmware with sophisticated communication, monitoring, and power management functions (ASIL-A ready) as well as a configuration tool. The company says that customers can develop application software, based on the firmware, that is both efficient and effective and thus optimally designed for motor control.
TDK will present HVC 4420F for the first time at Embedded World exhibition from February 26 to 28, 2019, in Nuremberg at the TDK booth 438 in hall 3A.
Samples will be available in March 2019. Start of production is planned for 2020.
