Cost-effective automotive electrification with a gate driver IC for three-phase BLDC motors

Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH has announced commercial sample shipments of its innovative gate driver IC, the TB9084FTG, tailored for three-phase BLDC motors. These motors are indispensable for various essential onboard functions across diverse automotive applications, including automotive body systems such as power sliding doors, power back doors (power tailgates), and power seats, as well as electric pumps, fans, and motor generators.

The automotive industry continues its fast transition, electrifying multiple mechanical systems with electric motors to improve the user experience. This shift has also accelerated the replacement of conventional brushed DC motors with quieter, more efficient and longer-lasting BLDC motors, a trend the new device is specifically designed to support.

Based on the TB9083FTG, the new IC incorporates essential functions for three-phase brushless motor drive, including a built-in charge pump circuit, a one-channel motor current sense amplifier, an oscillation circuit, an SPI communication circuit, and various sophisticated abnormality detection circuits.

The gate driver IC plays a vital role in equipment miniaturisation. Its streamlined core functions enable the use of a compact 6mm x 6mm VQFN36 package with a reduced pin count compared to TB9083FTG. This smaller package was made possible by a decreased chip size, achieved through an optimised circuit architecture.

The TB9084FTG also provides exceptional robustness and quality, adhering to the rigorous AEC-Q100 Grade 0 reliability testing standards, with an operating ambient temperature range spanning from -40C to +150C. Improving mounting reliability, the package includes a wettable flank structure, which simplifies visual inspection to confirm the integrity of soldered joints.