Three-phase automotive GDU offers high-performance sensing, protection and diagnostics

The Texas Instruments DRV3245Q-Q1 device is a FET gate driver IC for three-phase motor-drive applications developed according to the relevant requirements of ISO 26262 for functional safety applications. The device gives three half-bridge drivers each able to drive a high-side and low-side N-channel MOSFET while also giving sophisticated protection and monitoring of the FETs. A charge-pump driver allows 100% duty cycle and offers low battery voltages during cold-crank operation. The integration of current-sense amplifiers, integrated phase comparators, and SPI-based configuration of the driver and its peripherals enable reduction of the BOM and space on the PCB due to the elimination of most external and passive components. The device also combines diagnostics and protection for each internal block and offers support for common system diagnostic checks each of which can be instantiated and reported through SPI. This flexibility of the integrated features enables the device to integrate seamlessly into a variety of safety architectures.