Automotive gate driver IC released for brushed DC motors

Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH has begun the mass production of the AEC-Q100 qualified TB9103FTG MOSFET gate driver IC, featured in the company's recent motor control reference design for driving automotive brushed DC motors. This control board demonstrates how the IC can facilitate more compact system designs in latch and lock motor applications that do not need speed control.

The IC supplies the flexibility to function as either a single-channel H-bridge or two half-bridge channels gate driver. When paired with an external MOSFET, it can replace mechanical relays, improving equipment reliability by decreasing mechanical wear and tear. Its low standby current further contributes to minimising power consumption in the sleep mode. The device has a built-in charge pump circuit for controlling the gate voltage of the external MOSFETs driving the motors. Also, a gate monitoring feature safeguards against through-current by dynamically modifying the gate signal's output timing for high-side and low-side MOSFETs.

The TB9103FTG gate driver operates from -40C to +125C and is housed in a space-saving VQFN24 package measuring 4mm × 4mm.

Using the company's RD245 reference design, a brushed DC motor can be controlled by manually adjusting the switches on the board or using an external MCU. This compact reference design board also supports testing its 10A XPN7R104NC and 20A XPH3R304PS power MOSFETs for motor driving. It features a reverse polarity protection circuit implemented employing the XPH1R104PS power MOSFET, while the TB9005FNG 5V voltage regulator IC allows this design to operate from a wide 8V to 18V input voltage range.