Page 52 - EE Times Europe Magazine | April2019

52 EE|Times EUROPE — Boards & Solutions Insert

MICROCONTROLLERS
Added Arm Core Yields a More Flexible

iMOTION Controller

By Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio

anufacturers increasingly tend to consider the actual
motor control unit as a basic functional block rather than
a diversifying feature of the final product; this is particu-
Mlarly apparent for auxiliary systems such as water drainage
pumps or fans normally found in domestic appliances. Infineon
Technologies’ new IMC300 combines the iMOTION Motion Control
Engine (MCE) motor with an additional microcontroller based on the
Arm Cortex-M0 core. The IMC300 portfolio targets variable-speed
drives that require high application flexibility.
Controlling a motor’s speed and direction presupposes the mode
of operation of the motor in use and requires different techniques
and circuits depending on the type of motor and the different appli- IMC300 circuit application (Image: Infineon Technologies)
cation requirements. The purpose of a motor controller is to be able
to act manually or automatically on the electric motor (start-stop, three-phase full bridge, resulting in a complete inverter system in one
advance-inversion, speed, torsion, and protection against voltage over- small PQFN package.
loads). Electric-motor control requires electronic circuits, which, until Targeting the regulation of variable-speed motor control systems,
a few years ago, were made with discrete components because of the the ICs in Infineon’s iMOTION IMC300 family integrate an additional,
voltages and currents involved. Engine control today is at the forefront user-programmable microcontroller. The dual-core controller inte-
of R&D activities to achieve efficient microelectronic solutions on two grates the required hardware, software, and user program to regulate
levels: the computational software and power electronics. a permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). It enables a flexible
motor control system at the lowest system and development cost.
iMOTION TECHNOLOGY Protection features of the IMC300 include under/overvoltage, over-
iMOTION identifies a family of products that integrate a ready and current, overtemperature, motor gate kill, rotor lock, fault reporting,
certified motor control algorithm with the hardware for productive use, minimum dead time, and shoot-through. Control features include
with power factor correction (PFC) available as an option. In power sinusoidal FOC, sensored/sensorless, three- or two-phase modulation,
electronics solutions for motor control, it is necessary to ensure flexi- field weakening, zero vector braking, integrated PFC, and integrated
bility and adaptability to the customer’s target application, which often bootstrap. The IMC300 and its predecessor, the IMC100, share the same
goes well beyond the configuration of the motor under consideration. implementation of MCE 2.0, providing a ready-to-use solution with
iMOTION ICs integrate all the control and analog interface functions PFC control, multiple protection features, and a scripting engine.
required for sensor-field–oriented control (FOC) motor control using By applying MCE for motor control, customers can focus on the sys-
DC shunt current measurements or DC connection. In addition, they tem application, which works completely independently on the built-in
feature Infineon’s patented algorithm, which eliminates software cod- Arm microcontroller. That MCU offers a flexible set of peripherals and
ing from the motor control algorithm development process. iMOTION can serve a multitude of purposes, such as system functions, specific
solutions fit into home appliances and small drives such as fans. The communication, or drive monitoring.
solutions combine controller, SmartDrive, and SmartIPM devices. “The main idea behind this to make it easy for the customer to turn
The SmartDrive device is integrated with the gate driver (MOSFETs the motor,” said Ingo Skuras, product marketing manager for
or IGBTs can be used). The highest integration level is achieved in the iMOTION at Infineon Technologies. “We’ve seen a trend for some years
SmartIPM family, which combines the MCE with the gate driver and a now toward electronic control of most motors — not just on or off, but
variable-speed drives, as they are called. And we do have solutions for
that, which basically the customer can use without any programming:
Just configure them to the respective motor uses, and then it’s running.
Typically, it takes half an hour to an hour to [accomplish this].”
The MCE integrates all the necessary hardware and software com-
ponents, as well as all the necessary protection functions, resulting in
a reduced BOM. It undergoes continuous improvements; typically, two
versions are released per year.
A motor control algorithm that transfers more intelligence to periph-
erals such as A/D converters or timers reduces the load on the CPU
core. With solutions that include small controllers integrating modern
32-bit architectures, this freed-up CPU capacity is made available to
the application designer.
The IMC300 devices are pre-certified for applications requiring func-
tional safety according to UL/IEC 60730 (Class B). ■

iMOTION drives integration in motor control. Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio is a staff correspondent at AspenCore,
(Image: Infineon Technologies) editor of Power Electronics News, and editor-in-chief of EEWeb.

APRIL 2020 | www.eetimes.eu