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1. Introduction
The Si826x evaluation board allows designers to evaluate Silicon Lab's Si826x family of CMOS based LED
Emulator Input ISOdrivers. The Si826x ISOdrivers are pin-compatible, drop-in upgrades for popular opto-coupled
gate drivers, such as 0.6 A ACPL-0302/3020, 2.5 A HCPL-3120/ACPL-3130, HCNW3120/3130, and similar opto-
drivers. The devices are ideal for driving power MOSFETs and IGBTs used in a wide variety of inverter and motor
control applications. The Si826x isolated gate drivers utilize Silicon Laboratories'
proprietary silicon isolation
technology, supporting up to 5.0 kV
RMS
withstand
voltage per UL1577. This technology enables higher-performance,
reduced variation with temperature and age, tighter part-to-part matching, and superior common-mode rejection
compared to opto-coupled gate drivers. While the input circuit mimics the characteristics of an LED, less drive
current is required, resulting in higher efficiency. Propagation delay time is independent of input drive current,
resulting in consistently short propagation times, tighter unit-to-unit variation, and greater input circuit design
flexibility. As a result, the Si826x series offers longer service life and dramatically higher reliability compared to
opto-coupled gate drivers. The evaluation kit consists of four separately orderable boards with each board
featuring either the DIP8, SOIC8, SDIP6, or LGA8 package. For more information on configuring the ISOdriver
itself, see the Si826x product data sheet and application note “AN677: Using the Si826x Family of Isolated Gate
Drivers”.
1.1. Kit Contents
Each Si826x Evaluation Kit contains the following items:
Si826x
based evaluation board as shown in Figures 1 through 4.
Si826x LED Emulator Input ISOdriver (installed on the evaluation board)
Si8261
(DIP8, SOIC8, SDIP6, LGA8)
Figure 1. Si826x DIP8 Evaluation Board Overview
Figure 2. Si826x SOIC8 Evaluation Board Overview
Rev. 0.1 2/13
Copyright © 2013 by Silicon Laboratories
Si826x-EVB
Si826x-EVB
Figure 3. Si826x SDIP6 Evaluation Board Overview
Figure 4. Si826x LGA8 Evaluation Board Overview
2
Rev. 0.1
Si826x-EVB
2. Required Equipment
The following equipment is required to demonstrate the evaluation board:
1
digital multimeter
2 multimeter test leads (red and black)
1 oscilloscope (Tektronix TDS 2024B or equivalent)
1 function generator (Agilent 33220A, 20 MHz or equivalent)
1 dc power supply (HP6024A, 30 V dc, 0–100 mA or equivalent)
1 BNC splitter
3 coaxial cables
2 BNC to clip converters (red and black)
2 Banana to clip wires (red and black)
Si826x Evaluation Board (board under test)
Si826x LED Emulator Input Evaluation Board User's Guide (this document)
Rev. 0.1
3
Si826x-EVB
3. Hardware Overview and Demo
Figure 5 illustrates the connection diagram to demonstrate the Si826x-DIP8 EVB. The other footprint boards
demonstrate in a similar fashion. This demo transmits a 500 kHz (5 V peak, 50 percent duty cycle) square wave
through the ISOdriver to its output (Vo). In this example, VDD is powered by a 15 V supply. Figure 6 shows a scope
shot of CH1 (input) and CH2 (output). Note that if a user wants to evaluate an LED Emulator Input ISOdriver other
than the ones pre-populated, this can be accomplished by removing the installed device and replacing it with the
desired footprint-compatible ISOdriver device.
Input
to Scope
CH1
Output
to Scope
CH2
Signal Input
(500 kHz, 5 Vpk)
Square Wave
+
+
+
-
Power Supply
(15 V, 100 mA)
-
-
Figure 5. Summary Diagram and Test Setup
Figure 6. Oscilloscope Display of Input and Output
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Rev. 0.1
Si826x-EVB
3.1. Board Jumper Settings
To run the demo, follow the instructions below. Review Figure 5 and Figures 11 through 14 if necessary.
1. Ensure that JP1 and JP6 are installed as shown in Figure 1, 2, 3, or 4.
3.2. DC Supply Configuration
1. Turn OFF the dc power supply and ensure that the output voltage is set to its lowest output voltage.
2. Connect the banana ends of the black and red banana to clip terminated wires to the outputs of the dc
supply.
3. Then, connect the clip end of the red and black banana to clip wires to P2. The red wire goes to Pin1. The
black wire goes to Pin3.
4. Turn ON the dc power supply.
5. Adjust the dc power supply to provide 15 V on its output.
6. Ensure that the current draw is less than 25 mA. If it is larger, this indicates that either the board or Si826x
has been damaged or the supply is connected backwards.
3.3. Wave Form Generator
1. Turn ON the arbitrary waveform generator with the output disengaged.
2. Adjust its output to provide a 500 kHz, 0 to 5 V peak square wave (50 percent duty cycle) to its output.
3. Split the output of the generator with a BNC splitter.
4. From the BNC splitter, connect a coaxial cable to CH1 of the scope. This will be the input.
5. Connect a second coaxial cable to the BNC splitter, and connect a BNC-to-clip converter to the end of the
coaxial cable.
6. From here, connect the clip ends of the BNC-to-clip converter to P1, Pin1 (red wire here) and Pin3 (black
wire here). The positive terminal is Pin1 on P1.
7. Connect one end of a third coaxial cable to a BNC-to-clip converter (note that a scope probe can be used
here instead).
8. From here, connect the clip end of the BNC-to-clip converter to P2, Pin2 (red wire here) and Pin3 (black
wire here). Vo is on P2 Pin2.
9. Connect the other end of the coaxial cable to CH2 of the oscilloscope. This will be the output.
10. Engage the output of the waveform generator.
3.4. Oscilloscope Setup
1. Turn ON the oscilloscope.
2. Set the scope to Trigger on CH1 and adjust the trigger level to 1 V minimum.
3. Set CH1 to 2 V per division. Set CH2 to 5 V per division.
4. Adjust the seconds/division setting to 250 ns/division.
5. Adjust the level indicator for all channels to properly view each channel as shown in Figure 6.
A 500 kHz square wave should display on Channel 1 of the scope for the input and a slightly delayed 5 V version of
this square wave should display the output on Channel 2, as shown in Figure 6. This concludes the basic demo.
For more advanced demos, see the following section.
Rev. 0.1
5