ML4426
FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
CURRENT LIMITING IN THE POWER STAGE
The current sense resistor (R
SENSE
) shown in Figure 1
regulates the maximum current in the power stage and
the BLDC motor. Current regulation is accomplished by
shutting off the output drivers LA, LB, and LC for a fixed
amount of time if the voltage across R
SENSE
exceeds the
current limit threshold.
(Continued)
FROM
RSENSE
ISENSE
×
5
VREF
16kΩ
2.9V
STOP
START
30µA
–
+
PWM
ON/OFF
S
R
Q
Q
R
SENSE
The function of R
SENSE
is to provide a voltage
proportional to the motor current to set the current limit
trip point. The default trip voltage across R
SENSE
is
460mV, set by the internal I
LIMIT
divider ratio. The current
sense resistor should be a low inductance resistor such as
a carbon composition. For resistors in the milliohms range,
wire-wound resistors tend to have low values of
inductance. R
SENSE
should be sized to handle the power
dissipation (I
MAX2
´
R
SENSE
).
8kΩ
0V
CIOS
Figure 2. Current Sense Circuitry
I
SENSE
Filter
The I
SENSE
RC lowpass filter is placed in series with the
current sense signal as shown in Figure 2. The purpose of
this filter is to remove the diode reverse recovery
shootthrough current. This current causes a voltage spike
on the leading edge of the current sense signal which
may falsely trigger the current limit. The current sense
voltage waveform is shown before and after filtering in
Figure 3. The recommended starting values for this circuit
are R = 1kW and C = 330pF. This gives a time constant of
330ns, and will filter out spikes of shorter duration. C can
be increased to as much as 2.2nF, but should not exceed
a time constant of more than a few microseconds.
460mV
0V
(a)
(b)
Figure 3. Current Sense Resistor Waveforms
(a) Without Filtering, and (b) With Filtering
C
IOS
When I
SENSE
exceeds 0.2
´
I
LIMIT
, the current limit one-
shot is activated, turning off LA, LB, and LC for a fixed
amount of time (t
OFF
). t
OFF
is set by the amount of
capacitance connected to C
IOS
. C
IOS
is usually set for a
fixed off time equal to or less than the PWM period. For a
25kHz PWM frequency, the PWM period is 40µs; t
OFF
should be between 20µs and 40µs. The lower limit of t
OFF
is dictated by the minimum on time of the power stage; a
safe approximation is 5µs or less. The equation for finding
the C
IOS
capacitance value is as follows:
C
OS
=
t
OFF
50
m
A
2.4V
(1)
one N output from one phase and one P output from
another phase. There are six combinations of N and P
outputs (six switching states) that constitute a full
commutation cycle. These combinations are illustrated in
Table 1 and Figure 4, and are labeled states A through F.
This sequence is programmed into the commutation state
machine. Clocking of the commutation state machine is
provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO).
Forward/Reverse Control
The commutation sequence is reversed by pulling the F/R
pin to GND. This allows the motor to operate in the
opposite direction. This pin should change state only when
the motor is at rest. Either remove and restore power to
the ML4426, or pull the
BRAKE
pin and C
AT
pin to 0V to
stop the motor prior to changing the voltage on F/R. Either
method resets the internal commutation state machine,
and initiates a new start-up sequence.
COMMUTATION CONTROL
A 3-phase BLDC motor requires electronic commutation
to achieve rotational motion. Electronic commutation
requires the switching on and off of the power switches of
a 3-phase half bridge. For torque production to be
achieved in one direction, the commutation is dictated by
the rotor position. Electronic commutation in the ML4426
is achieved by turning on and off, in the proper sequence,
7
MICRO-LINEAR [ MICRO LINEAR CORPORATION ]
