Gate driver unit with accurate current sensing and enhanced protection

The Texas Instruments DRV3245E-Q1 device is a FET gate driver IC for three-phase motor-drive applications. The device is targeted at high-temperature automotive applications and is created according to the applicable demands 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 offering sophisticated protection and monitoring of the FETs. A charge-pump driver allows 100% duty cycle and supports low battery voltages during cold-crank operation. The combination of current-sense amplifiers, integrated phase comparators, and SPI-based configuration allows reduction of the BOM and space on the PCB because of the removal of most external and passive components.

The device also combines diagnostics and protection for each internal block and gives support for common system diagnostic checks, each of which can be instantiated and reported through SPI. This versatility of the integrated features enables the device to integrate seamlessly into a mixture of safety architectures.