Micronas Hall-effect sensors integrate MCU, digital interface

-- Test & Measurement World, 2/28/2008 7:17:00 AM

Optimized for automotive and mechatronic applications, the HAL 28xy series of Hall-effect sensors from Micronas include a microcontroller, a temperature sensor, on-chip compensation, and a digital interface.

Automotive designs require smart sensors to deliver a high level of precision and robustness linked with the capability of local preprocessing of the measured data. HAL 28xy devices meet these needs with a programmable on-chip microcontroller that makes each device more adaptable and more accurate and provides diagnostics for additional reliability and ease of service. The digital interface reduces component and wiring costs, making the HAL 28xy cost-effective for such applications as seat-track positioning and fuel-level sensing. Digital interface options include LIN 2.0, SENT (SAE J2716), and PWM output up to 2 kHz.

The Hall-effect sensor and on-chip temperature sensor each have their own analog-to-digital converter. This lets the microcontroller perform spinning-current offset compensation, plus first-order temperature compensation for Hall offset error and second-order temperature compensation for overall Hall-effect sensitivity. An on-chip EEPROM stores custom, individualized application parameters, such as sample rate, magnetic field range, sensitivity, offset, and temperature coefficients of sensitivity and offset.

The implemented bus interface can drive the serial bus directly because the bus driver is fully integrated. Both the power supply and the serial bus connections are protected by over-voltage devices.

Along with the HAL 28xy, Micronas offers an application kit that contains a programmer board, LabView programming software, and the necessary source code.

Micronas, www.micronas.com.