The A4900 is a high-voltage brushless DC (BLDC) MOSFET gate driver IC. It is designed for high-voltage motor control for hybrid, electric vehicle, and 48-V automotive battery systems (e.g., electronic power steering, A/C compressors, fans, pumps, and blowers).
The A4900’s six gate drives can drive a range of N-channel insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) or power MOSFET switches. The gate drives are configured as three high-voltage high-side drives and three low-side drives. The high-side drives are isolated up to 600 V to enable operation with high-bridge (motor) supply voltages. The high-side drives use a bootstrap capacitor to provide the supply gate drive voltage required for N-channel FETs. A TTL logic-level input compatible with 3.3- or 5-V logic systems can be used to control each FET.
A single-supply input provides the gate drive supply and the bootstrap capacitor charge source. An internal regulator from the single supply provides the logic circuit’s lower internal voltage. The A4900’s internal monitors ensure that the high- and low-side external FET’s gate source voltage is above 9 V when active.
The control inputs to the A4900 offer a flexible solution for many motor control applications. Each driver can be driven with an independent PWM signal, which enables implementation of all motor excitation methods including trapezoidal and sinusoidal drive. The IC’s integrated diagnostics detect undervoltage, overtemperature, and power bridge faults that can be configured to protect the power switches under most short-circuit conditions. Detailed diagnostics are available as a serial data word.
The A4900 is supplied in a 44-lead QSOP package and costs $3.23 in 1,000-unit quantities.
Allegro MicroSystems, LLC