Motorola Introduces Low-power ICs to Control Motors in Portable Products

Motorola's MPC17500 family is comprised of nine motor controller ICs featuring single, dual or quad h-bridges. When combined with a microcontroller (MCU), these ICs are ideal for controlling one, two or four motors. With highly efficient h-bridges, they help enable exceptional battery life in portable consumer electronics, such as 35mm and digital cameras, compact disc and DVD (digital-video-disc) players, mini-disc players and toys.

Each of the MPC17500 devices is manufactured using Motorola's proprietary SMARTMOS process, which combines high-density, high-speed logic with precision analog and efficient power circuitry. This enables a low resistance-drain-to- source (RDSon), which translates to low power dissipation.

"Motorola has been supplying SMARTMOS ICs to well-known makers of consumer electronics for a number of years," said Akihide Usui, market development manager for Motorola's Analog Products Division in Japan. "The MPC17500 family is experiencing an extremely favorable adoption rate in a variety of portable electronics, particularly mini-disc players and digital still cameras. This is a market for which the semiconductor total available market (TAM) is expected to exceed $340 million by 2006, and we intend to win a good share of that."

The MPC17500 devices are designed to replace bipolar h-bridge ICs, which typically have higher power dissipation when turned on due to their higher saturation voltage (Vsat). They also generally have a higher current drain when not performing switching functions, therefore can waste power -- and drain battery life -- even while in a rest state.

Features for Driving Motors with Low Power Consumption

Each of the nine devices in the MPC17500 family features power-saving modes and under-voltage shutdown designed to provide protection from low supply voltages that could cause erratic product operation. In addition, the devices are housed in small surface-mount packages with dense pin counts and low profiles. This not only makes them applicable for use in small end-products, but also saves on board space, which helps reduce system costs. This family of devices can drive motor currents between 700mA and 1A.

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is a key capability for motor control. The MPC17500 devices feature fast PWM, up to 200 KHz, for precision control of motors. When combined with a 3.3- or 5.0-volt MCU -- through a direct interface feature -- the devices can simplify design and control of DC or stepper motors.

Pricing and Availability

The MPC17500 family is comprised of the MPC17550 and MPC17559 4-channel drivers; the MPC17529, MPC17530, MPC17531 and MPC17533 2-channel drivers; the MPC17517 1.5-channel driver, and the MPC17510 and MPC17511 1-channel drivers.

Each of the MPC17500 devices is available now in sample and production quantities. Suggested list prices for 10,000-piece quantities range from $.51 to $1.64 (USD). Please contact a Motorola authorized distributor for more pricing information. For more product information, visit http://www.motorola.com/analog .

About Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector

As the world's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector creates DigitalDNA(TM) system-on-chip solutions for a connected world. Our strong focus on wireless communications and networking enables customers to develop smarter, simpler, safer and synchronized products for the person, work team, home and automobile. Motorola's worldwide semiconductor sales were $5.0 billion (USD) in 2002. For more information please visit: http://www.motorola.com/semiconductors .

About Motorola Inc.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2002 were $27.3 billion. Motorola is a global corporate citizen dedicated to ethical business practices and pioneering important technologies that make things smarter and life better, honored traditions that began when the company was founded 75 years ago this year. For more information, please visit: http://www.motorola.com/ .

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