iC-Haus introduces highly integrated circuit

Robust magnetic linear and angular position sensors usually operate with coarse scale gratings to achieve a comfortable reading distance. The resolution on the input side is low, and the requirements for signal processing and conversion are correspondingly high, which presents a challenge for interpolation electronics. On the other hand, optical sensors, such as in linear position encoders, supply signals with a higher frequency and still demand the highest precision at the measuring point: a low-jitter position value with low hysteresis. The new iC-NQE signal converter fulfils precisely these requirements and offers further advantages.

iC-NQE from iC-Haus now offers modern sensors a suitable connection for ultra-fast, yet precise, 80 MSPS sine/digital conversion for resolutions up to 16 bits per input period. Due to advanced process technology, additional system functions have been integrated, including a temperature sensor with a programmable alarm threshold for operational monitoring, or the required cable drivers on the output side, which saves valuable space in the sensor read head.

iC-NQE can also be used universally on the receiver side as a 32-bit counter module for quadrature signals up to 500kHz, on IPC interface cards, in drive inverters or in the PLC.

The converter is driven by high precision programmable amplifiers that accept small to large differential sensor signals from 30 mV to 3 V. Primary signal errors can be compensated to a residual signal error of less than 0.1% using analogue corrections. Additionally, the non-linearity of the sensor can also corrected by digitally adjusting the transfer function in the converter if necessary. The converter circuit bases on the well-proven vector tracking principle for virtually latency-free angle tracking. Optionally, a digital position filter can be enabled for noise and interference suppression.

iC-NQE operates at 3.3V or 5V and is supplied in a 32-pin QFN with an edge length of 5 x 5mm. The chip contains the RS-422 drivers for outputting quadrature signals with up to 16,384 AB pulses plus zero signal, or UVW commutation signals for BLDC motors with up to 32 pole pairs, as well as the necessary transceiver for cabling the serial BiSS or SSI interface. Embedded applications with an MCU can use SPI or I2C as the data interface.

A compatible version of iC-NQE is also planned suiting contemporary industrial applications based on the iC-NQx converter with 20-pin TSSOP, enabling performance upgrades without PCB changes.