KAWASAKI, JAPAN -- Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (“Toshiba”) has started providing engineering samples of “TB9104FTG,” a gate driver[1] for bridge circuits used in high-current automotive brushed DC motors, suitable for body system applications such as power back doors, power sliding doors, and power seats.

The accelerating electrification of movable components in vehicles has increased the number of motors installed in vehicles, particularly motors for body system applications. This trend has also increased the number of drivers required for motor operation, and is creating demand for more compact systems. Wire harnesses must be reduced to meet requirements for lighter vehicles.

TB9104FTG adopts a small VQFN32 package with typical dimensions of 5.0mm×5.0mm. An exposed thermal pad on the underside of the package enhances thermal performance, and when combined with external MOSFETs, this enables a compact drive circuit for high-current brushed DC motors in body system applications.

The new product has a serial peripheral interface (SPI)[2] for interfacing with microcontrollers, providing numerous configuration options and status information. Notably, rotation commands for the motor can be issued not only through dedicated pins but also via SPI. By connecting multiple gate drivers to the SPI bus, wiring can be shared, contributing to wire harness reduction.

TB9104FTG also features a built-in PWM drive circuit. Designed for environments with multiple devices connected via SPI, it enables continuous motor operation based on a preset PWM drive cycle with just a single rotation command from the microcontroller. This helps reduce the load on the microcontroller and alleviates congestion on the SPI bus.

As a device handling high current, TB9104FTG ensures safety by integrating a high-precision current sense amplifier that monitors motor drive current. By feeding the amplifier’s output back to the microcontroller, precise drive-stop control can be executed when abnormal current occurs. The product also features other abnormality detection and drive-stop functions.

Toshiba will expand the lineup of driver ICs for automotive motors, contributing to the electrification and enhanced safety of automotive equipment.

Notes:
[1] Gate driver: Driver for driving MOSFETs
[2] Serial peripheral interface (SPI): A synchronous serial communications protocol for sending and receiving data.