STMicroelectronics launches highly integrated intelligent high-side driver for automotive applications

China, October 8, 2021 - STMicroelectronics has launched a new generation of automotive intelligent switch modules, VN9D30Q100F and VN9D5D20FN. These are the first driver chips on the market to add a digital current detection circuit to the on-chip full digital diagnostic function. They are specially designed for high-side connections in 12V battery-powered automotive systems, which can simplify the hardware and software design of electronic control units (ECUs) and enhance system reliability.

The new device leverages ST’s next-generation VIPower* M0-9 technology to combine an efficient 40V trench vertical MOSFET with 3.3V digital logic and high-precision analog circuitry in a 6mm x 6mm QFN package. Its compact size and high integration density save up to 40% of board area compared to similar existing driver ICs on the market.

The VN9D30Q100F has two 33 mW and two 90 mW output channels ; the VN9D5D20FN has two 7.6 mW and two 20 mW output channels. Each product has up to six output channels and a 4-wire SPI interface, which reduces the number of I/O pins required for the microcontroller to interact with the driver chip. Both products also have a built-in pulse width modulation ( PWM) generator with a resolution of 0.1%, which can provide convenient and accurate control signals at each output to handle functions such as lamp dimming.

The diagnostic circuitry has a continuously running 10-bit resolution, 5% accurate analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that provides digital measurements of load current and case temperature, eliminating the need for an ADC in the host microcontroller. The ADC task manager is synchronized with the driver's PWM engine to ensure that each output channel is automatically diagnosed within the appropriate time frame without microcontroller intervention. The new products also have two one-time programmable (OTP) inputs that can put the automotive system into limp-home mode in the event of a system fault that causes the overall function of the host MCU to fail.

In addition to minimizing power dissipation and board design complexity, reducing hardware costs for customers, these two new products also provide a complex solution in which driver operation is not affected by the application, simplifying AUTOSAR product compliance certification and reducing the difficulty of software development.

The VN9D30Q100F and VN9D5D20FN are available for sampling now and will be in mass production in the second quarter of 2021.

*VIPower is a registered and/or unregistered trademark of STMicroelectronics International NV or its affiliates in the EU and/or elsewhere.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics has 46,000 creators and innovators of semiconductor technology, and controls the semiconductor supply chain and advanced manufacturing equipment. As an independent semiconductor equipment manufacturer, STMicroelectronics develops products and solutions with more than 100,000 customers and thousands of partners, and jointly builds an ecosystem to help them better cope with various challenges and new opportunities and meet the world's higher demand for sustainable development. STMicroelectronics' technology makes people's travel smarter, power and energy management more efficient, and the Internet of Things and 5G technology are more widely used.