STMicroelectronics announces new extensible gauge high side drive

     STMicroelectronics has released single -, dual -, and four-channel gauge grid drivers in the standard PowerSSO-16 package, with pin allocation diagrams to simplify circuit design upgrades and add more drive channels. The series includes five single-channel drives, four dual-channel drives, and two four-channel drives. The single-channel drivers are VN9004AJ, VN9006AJ, VN9008AJ, VN9012AJ, VN9016AJ, and the dual-channel drivers are VND9008AJ, VND9012AJ, VND9016AJ, and VND9025AJ. The four-channel drives are VNQ9025AJ and VNQ9080AJ.

     The new drivers use stmicroelectronics' proprietary VIPower M0-9 manufacturing technology, which allows rich functionality to be integrated on a small chip area in addition to high drive current and high energy efficiency. On-chip features include load current limiting, load drop protection up to 35V, and fast thermal transient limiting protection. Flexible reset management enables designers to configure driver fault response to better meet application requirements. These drivers limit power dissipation on the PCB to an acceptable level by providing battery backconnection protection through the self-conduction function.

     The new grid driver is suitable for all automotive system equipment, including safety systems, comfort devices, powertrain, body electronics, infotainment systems, driver assistance systems, meets the automotive industry's LV124 deep cold start test specification, can be used to drive engine starting motor and other heavy loads, reliable operation in winter extreme cold conditions. The new driver has a very low standby current of only a few microamperes, which minimizes battery consumption when the vehicle is powered off and not in use.

     In terms of diagnosis, high-precision proportional load current detection function can detect load failures such as LED lamp circuit break. Other diagnostic functions include overload detection, short-circuit detection to ground, short-circuit detection to power supply VCC, and off-state open-circuit load detection. All diagnostic functions remain functioning whether the drive is on or off, detecting faults even when the load turns off the power. These chips all come in a PowerSSO-16 package with an area of 6.00mm x 4.9mm and thickness of only 1.7mm. They are pin-to-pin compatible and compatible with the previous generation M0-7 series.