CIE Components in Electronics
Microsemi Corporation, a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, has announced new enhancements to its field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based deterministic multi-axis motor control solution, with two new intellectual property (IP) offerings, a Resolver interface and a Sinc3 filter, both to support designs using resolver sensors. In addition, the company announced a new IP reference design for brushless DC (BLDC) motors leveraging the Resolver interface.
Microsemi’s motor control solution is a comprehensive development environment comprising of a fully-modular IP suite, hardware kit and graphical user interface (GUI) for simplified development and debugging of the design. Microsemi’s newly added IP targets motor control applications using a resolver sensor to find the position and speed of a rotor, enabling easier designs. Resolvers are used in applications which operate in harsh/rugged environments such as extreme temperatures, oil and dirt and are also preferred in space applications because of suitability in high-radiation environments as compared to other sensors like optical encoders.
The new enhancements enable Microsemi’s FPGA-based multi-axis motor control solution to support various motor types and control algorithms, including BLDC (sensorless, resolver, encoder and Hall sensor) and stepper motors. Along with high performance, reliability, security (secure communication, design security and hardware security) and low power, the solution can also enable easy integration of other functions such as industrial communication, human machine interface (HMI) and sensor interface required for modern drives and industrial control systems.
“Customers now have a compelling, complete solution for designing robotics, medical, 3-D printing, aerospace and defense applications requiring the most deterministic motor control solution, as our award-winning FPGAs combined with our new IP deliver unique capabilities,” said Prem Arora, director of marketing for Microsemi. “Designers have a distinct advantage in deterministic, high-precision control systems. Our solution offers many advantages over traditional digital signal processor (DSP) and microcontroller (MCU)-based solutions, including deterministic response, mixed motor control, better performance with multiple motor controls and a high level of integration.”
Offering motor control IP support for Microsemi’s SmartFusion2 system-on-chip (SoC) FPGAs, IGLOO2 FPGAs and RTG4 FPGAs, Microsemi’s solution provides a complete library of pre-tested and hardware-validated IP cores, reference designs for stepper and BLDC in sensor and sensorless configurations, a hardware board with BLDC and stepper motors, and GUI-based software with advanced features for optimising and debugging the design.
Microsemi’s motor control IP suite supports the key motor control algorithms for BLDC in both field oriented control (FOC) sensorless and sensor configurations, as well as the stepper motor using an advanced microstepping algorithm. It is also scalable to a multi-axis motor drive design and features design flexibility as well as integration of system functions to lower total cost of ownership (TCO). In addition, motor control IPs can be easily reused and ported across designs using Microsemi’s Libero SoC Design Suite.
Libero SoC Design Suite offers high productivity with its comprehensive, easy-to-learn, easy-to-adopt development tools for designing with Microsemi’s power efficient flash based SmartFusion2, IGLOO2 and RTG4FPGAs. The suite integrates industry standard Synopsys Synplify Pro synthesis and Mentor Graphics ModelSim simulation with best-in-class constraints management, debug capabilities and secure production programming support.
With target markets including industrial, medical, automotive, defense and aviation, Microsemi’s recently enhanced motor control solution is ideal for high efficiency motors, multi-type motor designs, high rpm performance and high precision stepper motor designs, as these applications require a highly deterministic motor control solution. In addition, the solution enables designs using a resolver with a BLDC and permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) motors. Applications include control systems on spacecraft and satellites; actuator electronics used in aircraft; factory automation and robotics, including industrial tooling (CNC), oil and gas automation machinery; medical diagnostic and surgical equipment; and motor control in electric vehicles.
“The industrial and factory automation and process control market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5 per cent from 2016 to 2021,” said Les Santiago, research director for wireless and IoT semiconductors, at market research firm IDC. “Key trends driving this growth are automated factories, intelligent motion control, advances in industrial communication and wireless sensor networks.”
