TOKYO — (BUSINESS WIRE) — April 14, 2016 — Toshiba Corporation's (TOKYO:6502) Storage & Electronic Devices Solutions Company today announced the launch of "TB9150FNG," an opto-isolated IGBT^[1] gate pre-driver IC with various enhanced protective functions for the in-vehicle inverters of electric and hybrid vehicles.

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Toshiba: an opto-isolated IGBT gate pre-driver IC "TB9150FNG" for the in-vehicle inverters of electric and hybrid vehicles. (Photo: Business Wire)

Sample shipments start today, with mass production scheduled to start in 2018. The IC will be showcased at “TECHNO-FRONTIER 2016” to be held from 20 to 22 April at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

Inverter control is used to drive the motors of electric and hybrid vehicles efficiently. As the control and drive functions have different operating voltages, they must be isolated from each other, which is secured with a device like a photocoupler. This solution results in loud noise from the drive circuit. Another concern is that efficient IGBT driving requires small, versatile, high performance IGBT gate pre-driver ICs with built-in protective functions.

Toshiba "TB9150FNG" integrates a photocoupler that secures high-level isolation characteristic between control (the primary side) and drive (the secondary side). It incorporates a highly-precise IGBT temperature detection function, a flyback transformer controller and a short circuit detection function (current sense and DESAT^[2] monitor) that all contribute to system downsizing.

Performance can be optimized by monitoring the IGBT’s operating temperature with the high accuracy IGBT temperature detection function, contributing both to downsizing of the IGBT and improved fuel consumption by electric and hybrid vehicles.

Main Features

1. Optical isolation function
Electrical isolation and high-withstand voltage isolation are achieved by a built-in photocoupler for communication between the primary and secondary sides. The perfect isolation this achieves secures a high tolerance to exogenous noise, such as that caused by electro-magnetic susceptibility.

2. Highly precise temperature detection function
The new IC has the constant current source for a temperature sense diode incorporated in IGBT and the AD converter. It measures voltage inside the temperature sense diode with high accuracy, allowing temperature to be precisely calculated.

3. Built-in flyback transformer control circuit for the power supply
A flyback transformer control circuit in the primary side supplies power to the secondary side while maintaining isolation. It also has a soft-start function that secures smooth start-up when turning on power to the circuit, avoiding current overload.

4. Various built-in abnormality detection circuits and protection circuits
The power supply, output, current and voltage of the IGBT are all monitored. Information on any detected abnormality is transferred to the main controller part via an SPI interface. A dedicated circuit provides protection against any abnormality with the potential to destroy the IC and IGBT.

5. Based on AEC-Q100 standards