Customizable Chip Puts New Spin on Motor Control

May 16, 2007 11:24 AM
By Mark Valentine, Technical Editor, Power Electronics Technology

According to STMicroelectronics, the company’s Structured Architecture of Bridges and Regulators (SABRe) IC is the first customizable mixed-signal chip for motion and power management for printers and similar equipment. The device is intended to reduce both the cost and development time of such projects.

“ST’s SABRe represents a first-of-its-kind solution with a complete set of analog functions for motion and power-management applications,” said Vittorio Peduto, General Manager of ST’s Computer Systems Division. “Customers get a highly configurable and customizable device that offers the flexibility of a dedicated product at a fraction of the time and cost required by a full-custom design approach.”

The SABRe includes a complete set of configurable and customizable analog functions for use in the motion and power-supply portions of printer applications. The IC can drive the motors that move the paper, the carriage, the service station and other parts of the printer. It can also generate the voltages needed for operating the pens, in addition to the other supplies on the pc board. Functioning as the master, the IC manages the entire power section of the application with specific programmable power-up routines before other digital ICs switch on.

Specifically designed to provide analog functionality, the SABRe IC compliments the company’s SPEAr (Structured Processor Enhanced Architecture) family of customizable digital engines. Together, these two parts are intended to provide a complete configurable platform for printer applications.

The capabilities of the SABRe can also directly challenge digital power control platforms in motor applications. According to Giona Fucili, CS Design Manager at STMicroelectronics, the SABRe controls the current in the motor when in stepper mode. Moreover, with a proper customization and depending on the application of the IC, several thousand gates are available, operating up to 30 MHz. They can be used to implement digital control loops for speed or positioning, reading the suitable data from external encoders or other sensors. This can be accomplished using the ADC embedded within the IC.

The main components of the SABRe IC (shown in the figure) include four configurable bridges that can also function as switching regulators. Bridges 1 and 2 have a diagonal R_DS(ON) of 1.1 Ω and a maximum operating current of 2.5 A. Bridges 3 and 4 have a diagonal R_DS(ON) of 1.6 Ω and a maximum operating current of 1.5 A.

Figure: The startup configuration of STMicroelectronics’ SABRe IC can be defined by the GPIOs, and then through the serial interface; a customized metal-layer routing can be used to set more complex functions.

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© 2007 Penton Media, Inc.