Melexis has introduced a Hall-effect current-sensing integrated circuit aimed at cost-sensitive automotive applications: belt-driven starter generators and traction inverters for low-speed electric vehicles, e-scooters, electric forklift trucks and pallet trucks.
Combined with a ferromagnetic core, the non-intrusive sensors generate an analog output proportional to the current flowing in the cable or bus bar. The output signal has a 40 kHz bandwidth and the sensor features a step response time below 10 µs. The MLX91211LUA-ABT is factory-calibrated at three temperature points enabling increased accuracy for motor control in more demanding use cases. The lowest-priced variant, the MLX91211LUA-ABA, addresses applications that have lower bandwidth and lower accuracy requirements.
The output is an analogue voltage ratiometric to the power rail (which can range across 3.135 V to 5.5 V), with the ratio proportional to applied magnetic field —which meant that an analog to digital converter using the voltage rail as a reference can extract an accurate value regardless of supply voltage without using a voltage reference.
Magnetic field (and therefore current) in either direction can be sensed. Output for zero field is 50% of the common collector voltage, and minimum and maximum are 10% and 90% of the common collector voltage, respectively.
The sensors are available in both TO92-3L (UA) through-hole and TSOT23-3L (SE) surface-mount packages, and are qualified to AEC-Q100 Grade 0, covering ambient temperatures from -40° C to 150° C for use in all automotive environments, including under the hood.
Source: Melexis
