With an isolation capacity of up to 1480 Vpk in a small SOIC16W package, the ACS37800 reduces the size, cost, and complexity of the solution's bill of materials.
"Our latest power monitoring chip is a groundbreaking concept for IoT devices, smart lighting, data centers, and telecom applications, in particular," says Shaun Milano, Director of the Current Sensors Business Division at Allegro. "We've enhanced our first-generation integrated solution by adding the ability to measure voltage, current, and power in both AC and DC simultaneously, and with reinforced isolation, our customers can eliminate many expensive components from their PCBs. The ACS37800 dramatically simplifies power measurement into a unique, single-chip solution."
The new ACS37800 enables devices to easily track power consumption and optimize energy use by detecting reduced energy efficiency for predictive maintenance. This makes the ACS37800 ideal for motor control, building automation, and a variety of green industrial applications.
Extensive integration and power triangle calculations simplify the bill of materials and reduce time to market.
Offered in an efficient SOIC16 footprint, the ACS37800 further reduces PCB size and significantly lowers the cost and complexity of the bill of materials (BOM) by eliminating the need for many components required by competing solutions under similar conditions. For example, the integrated 517 Vrms reinforced isolation enables current sensing without the need for expensive opto-isolators, Rogowski coils, oversized current transformers, isolated operational amplifiers, or shunt resistors.
Thanks to its onboard regulator, the ACS37800 can be powered by the same voltage as the system's microprocessor (5 V or 3.3 V).
The ACS37800 simplifies common power triangle measurements by calculating parameters such as active, reactive, and apparent power, as well as instantaneous and RMS values of current, voltage, and power. Furthermore, the ACS37800 is capable of averaging these parameters from numerous instantaneous measurements over a one-minute period, preventing inaccuracies when waveforms are asymmetrical. These features reduce reliance on microcontroller unit (MCU) resources for critical calculations.
The right balance of programmability for a wide range of applications:
Thanks to impressive levels of flexibility and configurability, users can program the ACS37800 to suit a variety of unique application needs. The device allows designers to choose between a factory-programmed I2C or SPI interface, depending on whether the user prefers low noise or multiple addressing options. In I2C mode, it provides a zero-crossing detection pinout, facilitating LED dimming control. Users can also program under/overvoltage limits, current/voltage gain and compensation, and overcurrent trigger point via EEPROM, allowing them to optimize their system from ±30 A to ±180 A and from -40°C to 125°C.
The combination of Allegro's factory-programmed sensitivity and compensation with extensive user programming capabilities allows designers to balance time to market and customization in increasingly competitive energy efficiency applications, such as:
- Smart lighting
- Smart appliances and plugs
- Industrial motor control
- Power supplies for servers and telecommunications.
