Dual Full-Bridge DMOS

PWM Motor Driver

A4954

5

Allegro MicroSystems, Inc.

115 Northeast Cutoff

Worcester, Massachusetts 01615-0036 U.S.A.

1.508.853.5000; www.allegromicro.com

Functional Description

Device Operation

The A4954 is designed to operate two DC motors. The output

internal synchronous rectification to reduce power dissipation.

The current in each of the two output full bridges is regulated

with fixed off-time pulse width modulated (PWM) control cir-

cuitry. The IN1-IN2 and IN3-IN4 inputs allow two-wire control

for each bridge.

Protection circuitry includes internal thermal shutdown, and pro-

tection against shorted loads, or against output shorts to ground

or supply. Undervoltage lockout prevents damage by keeping the

outputs off until the driver has enough voltage to operate nor-

mally.

Standby Mode

Low Power Standby mode is activated when all four input (INx)

pins are low for longer than 1 ms. Low Power Standby mode

disables most of the internal circuitry, including the charge pump

and the regulator. When the A4954 is coming out of standby

mode, the charge pump should be allowed to reach its regulated

voltage (a maximum delay of 200 μs) before any PWM com-

mands are issued to the device.

Internal PWM Current Control

Initially, a diagonal pair of source and sink FET outputs are

enabled and current flows through the motor winding and the

sense comparator resets the PWM latch. The latch then turns off

the sink and source FETs (Mixed Decay mode).

The maximum value of current limiting is set by the selection

transconductance function is approximated by the maximum

the resistance of the sense resistor (Ω) on the corresponding LSSx

terminal.

Overcurrent Protection

A current monitor will protect the IC from damage due to output

shorts. If a short is detected, the IC will latch the fault and dis-

able the outputs. Each channel has independent OCP protection.

The fault latch can only be cleared by coming out of Low Power

Standby mode or by cycling the power to VBB. During OCP

events, Absolute Maximum Ratings may be exceeded for a short

period of time before the device latches.

Shutdown

If the die temperature increases to approximately 160°C, the full

bridge outputs will be disabled until the internal temperature falls

on VBB to prevent the output drivers from turning-on below the

UVLO threshold.

Braking

The braking function is implemented by driving the device in

Slow Decay mode, which is done by applying a logic high to both

inputs of both channels, after a bridge-enable Chop command

(see PWM Control Truth Table). Because it is possible to drive

current in both directions through the DMOS switches, this con-

figuration effectively shorts-out the motor-generated BEMF, as

long as the Chop command is asserted. The maximum current can

that the maximum ratings of the device are not exceeded in worse

case braking situations: high speed and high-inertia loads.