A5977
Microstepping DMOS Driver with Translator
Step Input (STEP)
Home Output (HOMEn)
A low-to-high transition on the STEP input sequences the transla- The HOMEn output is a logic output indicator of the initial state
tor and advances the motor one increment. The translator controls of the translator. At power-up, the translator is reset to the home
the input to the DACs and the direction of current flow in each
winding. The size of the increment is determined by the state of
inputs MS1 and MS2 (see Table 1).
state (see figures for home state conditions), and the HOMEn
output will be low. When the translator is not in the home state,
this output is high.
Microstep Select (MS1 and MS2)
Synchronous Rectification
Input terminals MS1 and MS2 select the microstepping format
per Table 1. Changes to these inputs do not take effect until the
STEP command.
When a PWM off-cycle is triggered by an internal current con-
trol, load current will recirculate according to the decay mode
selected by the control logic. The A5977 synchronous rectifica-
tion feature will turn on the appropriate MOSFETs during the
current decay and effectively short out the body diodes with the
low RDS(ON) driver. This will reduce power dissipation signifi-
cantly and eliminate the need for external Schottky diodes for
most applications.
Direction Input (DIR)
The state of the DIR input will determine the direction of rotation
of the motor.
Percent Fast-Decay Input (PFD)
The synchronous rectification can be set in either active mode or
disabled mode using the SR pin.
When a STEP input command results in a lower output current
than the previous step, it switches the output current decay for
that bridge to either slow-, fast-, or mixed-decay, depending on
the voltage level at the PFD input. If the voltage at the PFD input
is greater than 0.6 × VDD, then slow-decay is selected. If the
voltage on the PFD input is less than 0.21 × VDD, then fast-decay
is selected. Mixed-decay is selected when the voltage on the
PFD input is between these two levels. This terminal should be
decoupled with a 0.1 µF capacitor.
Synchronous Rectification Mode (SR)
When the SR input is logic-low, active mode is enabled and syn-
chronous rectification will occur. Reversal of the current in the
motor winding is prevented when using this mode by turning off
synchronous rectification if the current in the winding decays to
zero. When the SR input is logic-high, synchronous rectification
is disabled. Synchronous rectification is typically disabled only
when external diodes are required to transfer power dissipation
from the A5977 package to the external diodes.
Mixed-Decay Operation
If the voltage on the PFD input is between 0.6 × VDD and 0.21 ×
VDD, the bridge will operate in mixed-decay mode when a STEP
input command results in a lower output current that the previous
step. As the trip point is reached, the bridge will go into fast-
decay mode until the voltage on the RC terminal decays to the
voltage applied to the PFD terminal. The time the bridge remains
in fast-decay is approximated by:
Enable Input (ENABLEn)
This active-low input enables all of the DMOS outputs. When
logic-high, the outputs are disabled. Inputs to the transla-
tor (STEP, DIR, MS1, MS2) are all active independent of the
ENABLEn input state.
Sleep Mode (SLEEPn)
tFD = RT × CT × In (0.6 × VDD / VPFD)
This active-low input is used to minimize power consumption
when the device is not in use. Sleep mode disables much of the
internal circuitry, including the output DMOS, regulator, and
charge pump. A logic-high allows normal operation and a rising
edge on this input resets the translator to the home position.
When coming out of sleep mode, 1 ms is required before issuing
a STEP command, to allow the charge pump to stabilize.
After this fast-decay portion, tFD, the bridge will switch to slow-
decay mode for the remainder of the fixed off-time period.
Reset Input (RESETn)
The RESETn input (active low) sets the translator to a predefined
home state (see figures for home state conditions) and turns off
all of the DMOS outputs. The HOMEn output goes low and all
STEP inputs are ignored until the RESETn input goes high.
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