Power Integrations Launches 98.5%-Efficient High Voltage BLDC Motor Driver IC Family

Power Integrations announced the release of its BridgeSwitch™ integrated half-bridge (IHB) motor driver IC family. BridgeSwitch ICs feature high- and low-side advanced FREDFETs (Fast Recovery Diode Field Effect Transistors) with integrated lossless current sensing, resulting in inverter conversion efficiency of up to 98.5% in brushless DC (BLDC) motor drive applications to 300 W. Superior efficiency along with the distributed thermal footprint provided by the IHB driver eliminates the need for a heatsink, reducing both system cost and weight. Integrated lossless current sensing, bus voltage sensing and system-level thermal sensing makes this device family ideal for BLDC motors in home-appliance applications. BridgeSwitch devices target refrigerator compressors, HVAC system fans and other residential and light commercial pumps, fans and blowers.

The 600 V FREDFETs used in BridgeSwitch ICs incorporate fast, ultra-soft-recovery body-diodes. This drastically reduces losses during switching and reduces noise generation, which simplifies system level EMC. The new high-voltage, self-powered, half-bridge motor driver ICs also feature built-in device protection and system monitoring and a robust single-wire status update interface which enables communication between the motor-microcontroller and up to three BridgeSwitch devices (more info, photo: Business Wire).