BLDC motor control provides reliable and scalable operation

onsemi has released its new ecoSpin family of BLDC motor controllers. Merging the control and driver functions in a complete SiP solution simplifies the development of high-voltage motor control systems in applications including HVAC, refrigeration and robotics.

The first member of the family to be launched is the ECS640A, a three-phase BLDC motor controller developed for reliable high-voltage operation up to 600V. The small-form-factor device offers a trusted gate driver, Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller, three sense amplifiers, and three bootstrap diodes and can support sensored or sensorless motor control architectures.

“The highly integrated solution reduces time to market by eliminating the need for design cycles on applications, simplifying solution reuse when scaling BLDC motor power level requirements,” said Michel De Mey, vice president of the Industrial Solutions Division, onsemi. “Reliability is improved by replacing many of the larger, more complex devices, while at the same time shrinking the PCB routing area by approximately 20% compared to a discrete implementation, to deliver an overall compact solution.”

Integrating a single IC package (10mm x 13 mm) redefines BLDC motor control performance by optimising power stage placement and lowering noise. This enables rapid reuse in alternative platforms by merely changing the discrete power devices and updating the software. The BOM reduction simplifies sourcing challenges from having various discrete devices.

The device supports conventional motor control techniques, including trapezoidal and vector control, to optimise performance. Advanced commutation algorithms are offered on the Cortex M0 platform. These techniques provide improved control over the motor’s flux and torque across a wide speed range, with as much as a 3-5% improvement in power efficiency.

With a compact system design and user-friendly tools to speed up the design process, the device brings new levels of ease of use to BLDC motor control.