A4964
2
-
Sensorless Sinusoidal Drive BLDC Controller
FEATURES AND BENEFITS
DESCRIPTION
The A4964 is a three-phase, sensorless, brushless DC
(BLDC) motor controller for use with external N-channel
power MOSFETs and is specifically designed for automotive
applications. It is designed to provide the motor control
functions in a system where a small microcontroller provides
the communication interface to a central ECU and intelligent
fault and status handling. The A4964 provides the supply and
watchdogforthemicrocontrollerandthehigh-voltageinterfaces
between the microcontroller and the central ECU and ignition
switch. The A4964 can also operate as an independent single-
chip remote motor controller.
• Three-phase sensorless BLDC motor control FET driver
• Three-phase sinusoidal drive with soft start
• Sensorless start-up and commutation
• Windmill detection and synchronization
• Bootstrap gate drive for N-channel MOSFET bridge
• 5.5 to 50 V supply range
• SPI-compatible interface
• Programmable control modes: speed, voltage, current
• Peak current limiting
• Control via SPI or PWM
• Programmable gate drive for slew rate control
• LIN / PWM physical interface with wake
• Logic supply regulator with current limit
• MCU watchdog and reset
• Ignition switch interface
• Diagnostics, status, current, and speed feedback
The motor is driven using 3-phase sinusoidal current drive
where phase commutation is determined, without the need
for independent position sensors, by monitoring the motor
back-EMF (bemf). The sensorless start-up scheme includes
forward and reverse pre-rotation (windmill) detection and
synchronization, and allows theA4964 to operate over a wide
range of motor and load combinations.
APPLICATIONS
• Automotive fuel, oil, and urea pumps
• Automotive fans and blowers
TheA4964canoperatewithdutycycle(voltage)control,current
(torque limit) control, and closed-loop speed control. Control
mode,operatingmode,andcontrolparametersareprogrammed
through an SPI-compatible serial interface.
PACKAGES
36-terminal eQFN
(suffix EV)
Asingle current sense amplifier provides peak current limiting
and average current measurement through the serial interface.
Integrated diagnostics provide indication of undervoltage,
overtemperature, and power bridge faults and can protect the
power switches under most short-circuit conditions.
32-lead eQFP
(suffix JP)
The A4964 is provided in a 36-terminal QFN and a 32-lead
QFP, both with exposed thermal pad.
Not to scale
VBAT
VBAT
IG
IG
LIN
PWM
DIAG
DIAG
VLR
VLR
A4964
A4964
3-Phase
Motor
3-Phase
Motor
LIN
WDOG
MRSTn
MCU
SPI
Figure 1: Typical Applications
A4964-DS, Rev. 3
MCO-0000214
December 21, 2018