Operating Temperature Range, TA.. –40°C to +135°C
Junction Temperature, T
Storage Temperature Range, T
Notes:
1. Measured on a two-sided PCB with 3 in.
2 oz. copper.
2. Measured on JEDEC standard High-K board.
...........................+150°C
J
....-55°C to +150°C
S
2
REF
of
1
2
1
2
The A3946 is designed specifi cally for ap pli ca tions that require
high power unidirectional dc motors, three-phase brushless dc motors, or
other inductive loads. The A3946 provides two high-current gate drive
outputs that are capable of driving a wide range of power N-channel
MOSFETs. The high-side gate driver switches an N-channel MOSFET
that controls current to the load, while the low-side gate driver switches
an N-channel MOSFET as a synchronous rectifi er.
A bootstrap capacitor provides the above-battery supply voltage
required for N-channel MOSFETs. An internal charge pump for the
high side allows for dc (100% duty cycle) operation of the half-bridge.
The A3946 is available in a choice of two power pack ag es: a
16-lead
SOIC with copper batwing power tab (part number suffi x LB),
and a 16-lead TSSOP with ex posed thermal pad (suffi x LP).
FEATURES
On-chip charge pump for 7 V minimum input supply voltage
High-current gate drive for driving a wide range of
N-channel
MOSFETs
Bootstrapped gate drive with charge pump for 100% duty cycle
Overtemperature protection
Undervoltage protection
–40ºC to 135ºC ambient operation
Always order by complete part number:
Part NumberPackage
A3946KLB
A3946KLP
16-Lead SOIC; Copper Batwing Power Tab
16-Lead TSSOP; Exposed Thermal Pad
VREG. A 13 V output from the on-chip charge pump, used
to power the low-side gate drive circuit directly, provides the
current to charge the bootstrap capacitors for the high-side
gate drive.
The VREG capacitor, C
, must supply the instantaneous
REG
current to the gate of the low-side MOSFET. A 10 µF, 25 V
capacitor should be adequate. This capacitor can be either
electrolytic or ceramic (X7R).
Diagnostics and Protection. The fault output pin,
~FAULT, goes low (i.e., FAULT = 1) when the RESET line
is high and any of the following conditions are present:
• Undervoltage conditions on VREG (UVREG) or on the
internal logic supply VREF (UVREF). These conditions
set a latched fault.
• A junction temperature > 170°C (OVERTEMP). This condition sets a latched fault.
• An undervoltage on the stored charge of the BOOT capacitor (UVBOOT). This condition does NOT set a latched
fault.
An overtemperature event signals a latched fault, but does
not disable any output drivers, regulators, or logic inputs.
The user must turn off the A3946 (e.g., force the RESET line
low) to prevent damage.
cleared immediately, and remains cleared. If the power is
restored (no UVREG or UVREF), and if no OVERTEMP
fault exists, then the latched fault remains cleared when the
RESET line returns to high. However, FAULT = 1 may still
occur because a UVBOOT fault condition may still exist.
Charge Pump. The A3946 is designed to ac com mo date
a wide range of power supply voltages. The charge pump
output, VREG, is regulated to 13 V nominal.
In all modes, this regulator is current-limited. When V
BB
< 8 V, the charge pump operates as a voltage doubler. When
8 V < VBB< 15 V, the charge pump operates as a voltage
doubler/PWM, current-controlled, voltage regulator. When
VBB>15 V, the charge pump operates as a PWM, current-controlled, voltage regulator. Effi ciency shifts, from 80% at VBB=
7 V, to 20% at VBB = 50 V.
CAUTION. Although simple paralleling of VREG supplies
from several A3946s may appear to work correctly, such a
confi guration is NOT recommended. There is no assurance
that one of the regulators will not dominate, taking on all of
the load and back-biasing the other regulators. (For example,
this could occur if a particular regulator has an internal reference voltage that is higher that those of the other regulators,
which would force it to regulate at the highest voltage.)
The power FETs are protected from inadequate gate drive
voltage by undervoltage detectors. Either of the regulator
undervoltage faults (UVREG or UVREF) disable both output
drivers until both voltages have been restored. The high-side
driver is also disabled during a UVBOOT fault condition.
Under many operating conditions, both the high-side (GH)
and low-side (GL) drivers may be off, allowing the BOOT
capacitor to discharge (or never become charged) and create
a UVBOOT fault condition, which in turn inhibits the highside driver and creates a FAULT = 1. This fault is NOT
latched. To remove this fault, momentarily turn on GL to
charge the BOOT capacitor.
Latched faults may be cleared by a low pulse, 1 to 10 µs
wide, on the RESET line. Throughout that pulse (despite
a possible UVBOOT), FAULT = 0; also the fault latch is
Sleep Mode/Power Up. In Sleep Mode, all circuits are
disabled in order to draw minimum current from VBB. When
powering up and leaving Sleep Mode (the RESET line is
high), the gate drive outputs stay disabled and a fault remains
asserted until VREF and VREG pass their undervoltage
thresholds. When powering up, before starting the fi rst boot-
strap charge cycle, wait until t = C
⁄ 4 (where C
REG
REG
is in
µF, and t is in ns) to allow the charge pump to stabilize.
When powered-up (not in Sleep Mode), if the RESET line
is low for > 10 µs, the A3946 may start to enter Sleep Mode
(V
< 4 V). In that case, ~FAULT = 1 as long as the RESET
REF
line remains low.
If the RESET line is open, the A3946 should go into Sleep
Mode. However, to ensure that this occurs, the RESET line
must be grounded.
5
Half
3946
-Bridge Power MOSFET Controller
Data Sheet
29319.150
Dead Time. The analog input pin DT sets the delay to turn
on the high- or low-side gate outputs. When in struct ed to
turn off, the gate outputs change after an short internal propagation delay (90 ns typical). The dead time controls the time
between this turn-off and the turn-on of the appropriate gate.
The duration, t
, can be adjusted within the range 350 ns
DEAD
to 6000 ns using the following formula:
t
where t
is in ns, and R
DEAD
range 5 k < R
< 100 k.
DEAD
DEAD
= 50 + (R
is in , and should be in the
DEAD
DEAD
⁄ 16.7 )
Do not ground the DT pin. If the DT pin is left open, dead
time defaults to 12 µs.
Control Logic. Two different methods of control are
The dead time circuit can be disabled by tying the DT pin
to VREF. This disables the turn-on delay and allows direct
control of each MOSFET gate via two control lines. This is
shown in the Control Logic table, on page 2.
Top-Off Charge Pump. An internal charge pump allows
100% duty cycle operation of the high-side MOSFET. This is
a low-current trickle charge pump, and is only operated after
a high-side has been signaled to turn on. A small amount
of bias current (< 200 µA) is drawn from the BOOT pin
to operate the fl oating high-side circuit. The charge pump
simply provides enough drive to ensure that the gate voltage
does not droop due to this bias supply current. The charge
required for initial turn-on of the high-side gate must be supplied by bootstrap capacitor charge cycles. This is described
in the section Application Information.
possible with the A3946. When a resistor is connected from
DT to ground, a single-pin PWM scheme is utilized by shorting IN1 with IN2. If a very slow turn-on is required (greater
than 6 µs), the two input pins can be hooked-up individually
to allow the dead times to be as long as needed.
Fault Response Table
Fault ModeRESET~FAULTVREGVREFGH
No Fault11ONON(IL)(IL)
BOOT Capacitor Undervoltage
VREG Undervoltage
VREF Undervoltage
Thermal Shutdown
5
Sleep
1
(IL) indicates that the state is determined by the input logic.
2
This fault occurs whenever there is an undervoltage on the BOOT capacitor. This fault is not latched.
3
These faults are latched. Clear by pulsing RESET = 0.
4
Unspecifi ed VREF undervoltage threshold < 4 V.
5
During power supply undervoltage conditions, GH and GL are instructed to be 0 (low). However, with VREG < 4 V, the outputs start to be-
come high impedance (High Z). Refer to the section Sleep Mode/Power Up.
3
4
3
2
10ONON0(IL)
10ONON00
10OFFON00
10ONON(IL)(IL)
01OFFOFFHigh ZHigh Z
VREF. VREF is used for the internal logic circuitry and
is not intended as an external power supply. However,
the VREF pin can source up to 4 mA of current. A 0.1 µF
rectly selected to ensure proper operation of the device. If
too large, time is wasted charging the capacitor, with the
result being a limit on the maximum duty cycle and PWM
frequency. If the capacitor is too small, the voltage drop can
be too large at the time the charge is trans ferred from the
C
to the MOSFET gate.
BOOT
To keep the voltage drop small:
Q
BOOT
>> Q
GATE
where a factor in the range of 10 to 20 is reasonable. Using
20 as the factor:
Q
BOOT
= C
BOOT
× V
BOOT
= Q
GATE
× 20
and
C
BOOT
= Q
GATE
× 20 / V
BOOT
The voltage drop on the BOOT pin, as the MOSFET is being
turned on, can be approximated by:
Delta_v = Q
For example, given a gate charge, Q
GATE
/ C
BOOT
, of 160 nC, and the
GATE
typical BOOT pin voltage of 12 V, the value of the Boot
capacitor, C
, can be determined by:
BOOT
C
= (160 nC × 20) / 12 V 0.266 µF
BOOT
Therefore, a 0.22 µF ceramic (X7R) capacitor can be chosen
for the Boot capacitor.
At power-up and when the drivers have been disabled for
a long time, the bootstrap capacitor can be completely
discharged. In this case, Delta_v can be considered to be the
full high-side drive voltage, 12 V. Otherwise, Delta_v is the
amount of voltage dropped during the charge transfer, which
should be 400 mV or less. The capacitor is charged whenever
the S pin is pulled low, via a GL PWM cycle, and current
fl ows from VREG through the internal bootstrap diode
circuit to C
BOOT
.
Power Dissipation. For high ambient temperature
applications, there may be little margin for on-chip power
con sump tion. Careful attention should be paid to ensure that
the op er at ing conditions allow the A3946 to remain in a safe
range of junction temperature.
The power consumed by the A3946 can be es ti mat ed as:
P_total = Pd_bias + Pd_cpump + Pd_switching_loss
where:
Pd_bias = VBB × I
, typically 3 mA,
VBB
and
Pd_cpump = (2V
Pd_cpump = (V
BB
BB
– V
– V
REG
REG
) I
) I
AV E
AV E
, for V
< 15 V, or
BB
, for VBB > 15 V,
in either case, where
In that case, the voltage drop on the BOOT pin, when the
high-side MOSFET is turned on, is:
Delta_v = 160 nC / 0.22 µF = 0.73 V
Bootstrap Charging. It is good practice to ensure that the
high-side bootstrap capacitor is completely charged before a
high-side PWM cycle is re quest ed.
The time required to charge the capacitor can be ap prox i mat ed by:
PGND*External ground. Internally connected to the power ground.44
GL
S
GH
BOOT
~FAULTDiagnostic output, open drain. Low during a fault condition. 99
Charge pump capacitor, positive side. When not using the charge
pump, leave this pin open.
Charge pump capacitor, negative side. When not using the charge
pump, leave this pin open.
Low-side gate drive output for external MOSFET driver. External
series gate resistor can be used to control slew rate seen at the
power driver gate, thereby controlling the di/dt and dv/dt of the S
pin output.
Directly connected to the load terminal. The pin is also connected
to the negative side of the bootstrap capacitor and negative supply
connection for the fl oating high-side drive.
High-side gate drive output for N-channel MOSFET driver. External
series gate resistor can be used to control slew rate seen at the
power driver gate, thereby controlling the di/dt and dv/dt of the S
pin output.
High-side connection for bootstrap capacitor, positive supply for the
high-side gate drive.
SOIC-16
(A3946KLB)
22
33
55
66
77
88
TSSOP-16
(A3946KLP)
IN1Logic control. 1010
IN2Logic control. 1111
RESET
LGND*External ground. Internally connected to the logic ground.1313
DT
VREF5 V internal reference decoupling terminal.1515
VBBSupply Input.1616
*In the LB package, the PGND pin (4) and LGND pin (13) grounds are internally connected by the leadframe. In the LP package, however,
the PGND pin (4) and LGND pin (13) grounds are NOT internally connected, and both must be connected to ground externally.
In the LP package, the exposed thermal pad is not connected to any pin, but should be externally connected to ground, to reduce noise
pickup by the pad.
Logic control input. When RESET = 0, the chip is in a very low
power sleep mode.
Dead Time. Connecting a resistor to GND sets the turn-on delay
to prevent shoot-through. Forcing this input high disables the dead
time circuit and changes the logic truth table.
The products described here are manufactured under one or
more U.S. patents or U.S. patents pending.
Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. reserves the right to make, from time
to time, such de par tures from the detail spec i fi ca tions as may be
required to permit improvements in the per for mance, reliability,
or manufacturability of its products. Before placing an order, the
user is cautioned to verify that the information being relied upon is
current.
Allegro products are not authorized for use as critical components in life-support devices or sys tems without express written
approval.
The in for ma tion in clud ed herein is believed to be ac cu rate and reliable. How ev er, Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. assumes no re spon si bil i ty for its use; nor for any in fringe ment of patents or other rights
of third parties which may result from its use.