Integrated three-phase motor controller includes 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4-based MCU

The STSPIN32G4 from STMicroelectronics is a flexible, integrated motor controller for driving three-phase brushless dc (BLDC) motors. This system-in-package (SiP) motor controller includes a powerful microcontroller, a triple half-bridge gate driver able to drive power MOSFETs with a current capability of 1 A, three bootstrap diodes, and a complete power management system to supply these components. 

The high level of integration in the STSPIN32G4 helps motor-system designers to reduce the size and complexity of the control board, and to reduce system cost. 

The SiP’s integrated STM32G431VBx3 MCU is based on a 32-bit Arm^® Cortex^®-M4 core which operates at a frequency up to 170 MHz. The SiP features a single-precision floating-point unit, a full set of DSP instructions, and a memory protection unit which enhances application security. 

The range of MCU peripheral features is ideally suited to sophisticated BLDC motor-control applications. This includes two fast 12-bit ADCs, four comparators, three operational amplifiers, four DAC channels, and an internal voltage reference buffer. Multiple timers include two 16-bit PWM timers dedicated to motor control.

This feature-rich MCU is capable of running high-performance motor-control algorithms. Designers can program the STSPIN32G4 to run sensorless or sensored field-oriented control algorithms with one, two, or three shunts. The MCU can also run more advanced position or torque control algorithms, as well as implementing traditional six-step control. 

With an additional external three-phase motor driver, such as the STDRIVE101, the STSPIN32G4 is capable of running two independent, three-phase BLDC motors, reducing bill-of-materials cost and simplifying the design.

Motor-control system designers benefit from the wide range of protection functions implemented in the STSPIN32G4. An interlocking function prevents the high- and low-side switches of the same half-bridge from being simultaneously driven high. Hardware drain-source voltage monitoring checks each of the six external MOSFETs. If the STSPIN32G4 detects an over-voltage across one of them, it switches off all the gate driver outputs. 

The STSPIN32G4 is fully self-supplied via a flexible power management structure which can generate all the internal supplies from a single external motor-supply voltage source.