What’s New
Fan driver IC delivers two options
Melexis has introduced the MLX90287 fan driver IC for energy-efficient cooling fan designs. The Hall-effect- based device offers the ability to control fan speed using pulse width modulation (PWM) or analog signals. Applications include desktop computers, gaming consoles and automotive applications such as LED headlights.
TheMLX90287 features a one-chip solution for
driving low-noise, speed-controlled, single-coil brushless cooling fans. With an operating supply voltage from4.5 volts to 16 volts, the MLX90287 targets the widely used "12-volt" cooling fan applications.
With the integrated power stage, cooling fans rated as high as 550
mA (continuous) can be easily driven addressing amajority of applications, said the Tessenderlo, Belgium-basedmanufacturer. The device operates within an ambient temperature range from-40 to +150 deg C,making it suitable for harsh environments such as automotive, industrial,military and aerospace.
TheMLX90287 can regulate cooling fan speed via a potentiometer,
a solution used bymany extreme gamers for total control, or a thermistor for amore automatic regulation, responding to the real systemtemperature.
www.melexis.com www.pulseeng.com
EnergyMicro expands energy-friendly MCU family
EnergyMicro, headquartered in Oslo, Norway, offers its EFM32 Gecko and Tiny Gecko product lines in a QFP64 package. The 64-pin devices are said to be popular in the smartmetermarket, in addition to energy-sensitive applications such as building automation, security systems and portable health and fitness equipment.
The introduction of the larger I/O count package adds 12 new
product variants to the company's ARMCortex-M3 based microcontroller portfolio. The EFM32G232, EFM32G842, EFM32TG232 and EFM32TG842 offer the same energy-saving Gecko technology as other package options in the EFM32MCU range.
In application benchmark tests, themicrocontrollers' low current
performance, combined with a wake-up time of 2 µs, has enabled the EFM32microcontrollers to extend battery cell life by a factor of at least four, according to EnergyMicro.
The EFM32 Gecko and Tiny Geckomicrocontrollers operate in
activemode typically at 160 µA perMHz executing code fromFlash, 900 nA in deep sleepmode and 20 nA in shut-offmode. The EFM32
44 | September 2011
Tiny Gecko family now also features the LESENSE low-energy sensor interface, which enables autonomousmonitoring of up to 16 external sensors in themicrocontroller's submicroamp deep sleepmode.
www.energymicro.com www.electronics-sourcing.com
AC current sensors tout lower cost
Pulse Electronics Corp. has launched its new Sidewinder AC current sensors for distributed power generation, renewable energy and storage, load balancing, powermonitoring, advancedmetering infrastructure (AMI), and smartmeters. Sidewinder products differ from traditional current sense transformers because they do not need a core, whichmakes them lighter, easier to assemble, and less expensive, said Pulse.
Pulse's current sensors feature a phase error of <0.05 degree, a 100-
KHz bandwidth, and a lowtemperature coefficient. The company's precisionwinding approach allows for a high number ofwinding turns per unit length to provide a sufficiently large output voltage for detection and integration, said the San Diego, Calif.-based company.
The Sidewinder sensors provide a highly linear output voltage over a
verywide dynamic range from0.1 to 1000 amperes (A). These products meet the Class 0.2 percent accuracy limits defined by the IEC 62053-22 and ANSI C12.20 standards for currents from0.1 A to 200 A and above, and Class 1 requirement for immunity to externalmagnetic fields.
Because Pulse's sensors are not based on the traditional toroid core
(round) shape, but on a coil configuration, the sensor can bemade in several shapes and thicknesses in addition to the traditional round shape. The sensors are priced at $1.90 each in quantities of 100,000.
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