Renesas — RAA227063 Smart Gate Driver

The RAA227063 smart gate driver for brushless dc (BLDC) motors from Renesas integrates three half-bridge gate drivers with programmable drive strength control, power management, current-sensing circuitry, adaptive dead-time control and programmable slew rate control. By integrating all these functions in a single device, the RAA227063 saves space, reduces component count and accelerates the development of BLDC motor applications.

The device can support motors with rotor position sensors, as well as sensorless designs which use back electromotive force (EMF) measurement for motor control.

The three half-bridge smart gate drivers integrated in the device can drive up to three N-channel MOSFET bridges with bridge voltages from 4.5 V to 60 V. Each gate driver supplies up to 1 A source and 2 A sink peak drive current. The programmable gate-drive voltage enables the MOSFETs to perform at peak efficiency, and makes the devices suitable for use with both N-channel MOSFETs, typically used in motor inverter designs, as well as gallium nitride (GaN) power switches, which are used in applications which require very high power density.

Adjustable and adaptive dead-times are implemented to minimize switching power losses. Three integrated current-sense amplifiers with programmable gain enable easy programming for multiple shunt configurations.

The RAA227063 has an integrated 500 mA buck-boost converter which enables the device to output adjustable drive voltages ranging between 5 V and 15 V. The RAA227063 also includes a 200 mA low-dropout voltage regulator which can power both a microcontroller with at least three ADCs and additional analog peripherals.

To maximize battery life in portable devices, the gate driver offers a low-power Sleep mode in which it draws just 20 µA.

The RAA227063 smart gate driver can be paired with a wide variety of MCUs, including the new RA6T2 from Renesas, which is optimized for motor control applications.