The Gen 3 intelligent LIN controllers MLX81330 (0.5A motor drive) and MLX81332 (1.0A motor drive) are based on high-voltage SOI (Silicon On Insulator) technology to deliver high levels of robustness and feature density, combining analog and digital circuitry to create true single-chip solutions that fully comply with the LIN 2.x/SAE J2602 industry standard and ISO 17987-4 specifications for LIN slave nodes.
Along with an integrated motor controller, they feature extensive I/O capabilities and a dual microcontroller architecture. One core is dedicated to communications, while the second microcontroller runs the application software.
With their all-in-one approach to LIN slave design, the MLX81330 and MLX81332 enable a reduced bill of materials (BoM), a smaller PCB, simpler product design, and faster assembly. For example, the MLX81332 interfaces directly with an ECU and can drive up to four phases of a motor, with a maximum current of 1 A per phase, or two phases with a maximum current of 1.4 A. This means it can drive a 2-wire DC motor, a 3-wire BLDC motor, or a 4-wire bipolar stepper motor, using field-oriented control (FOC) algorithms with or without sensors.
The intelligent LIN controllers include five 16-bit PWM timers, two 16-bit timers, and a 10-bit ADC, along with a differential current sensing amplifier and temperature sensors. Overcurrent, overvoltage, and overtemperature detection and protection are also integrated. In addition to analog-ready I/O, they can interface with standard external sensors using protocols commonly used in automotive applications, such as SPI and SENT.
The integrated processing cores share a common on-chip memory architecture. The application core (MLX16-FX) has access to 32 KB of ECC Flash memory, 10 KB of ROM, 2 KB of RAM, and 512 bytes of ECC EEPROM. The communications processor (MLX4) has access to 6 KB of ROM and 512 bytes of RAM.
The embedded motor controller integrated circuits are designed for safety applications in accordance with ASIL-B (ISO 26262).
Intelligent LIN controllers are supplied with software that includes the LIN communication stack.
