June 10, 2015 – ams (Country Manager Jong-Deok Lee), a company specializing in high-performance analog ICs and sensors, announced the release of an ultra-high-speed magnetic rotary position sensor (product name: AS5147P) that achieves outstanding reliability in automotive applications by complying with the ISO 26262 functional safety international standard requirements.

Because the AS5147P provides accurate absolute and incremental measurement outputs at rpm speeds of up to 28,000 revolutions per minute, it is suitable for critical safety applications such as electric power steering (EPS), brake and accelerator pedals, pumps, double clutch transmissions, starter motors, alternators, and automotive windscreen wiper motors.

The features that this new product emphasizes to automotive system designers are 1) very accurate measurement performance even at very high rotational speeds, 2) high reliability, 3) system cost, and 4) support for compliance with international standards.

The AS5147P is equipped with the patented DAEC™ (Dynamic Angle Error Correction) technology, which enables accurate position measurement even at very high rotational speeds. The DAEC correction circuit reduces the propagation delay inherent in the sensor signal chain to near-zero levels. As a result, the AS5147P exhibits an angle error of 0.02° at 1.7krpm, which is almost negligible, 0.17° at 14.5krpm, and 0.34° at 28krpm. Through the DAEC function, the AS5147P device can regenerate measurement output values every 1.9µs.

The inherent immunity of the AS5147P to stray magnetic fields ensures high reliability and low system costs in automotive applications. Strong stray magnetic fields are present in automobiles, particularly in electric drivetrains that partially or wholly contain powerful electric motors and conductors carrying high currents. These stray fields are significantly stronger than the stray fields of a small target magnet used in pair with a magnetic position sensor.

The proprietary differential sensing principle of the ams magnetic position sensor enables resistance to stray magnetism by design itself. This means that automotive system designers do not need to add bulky and expensive magnetic shielding to their products, and consequently, can significantly reduce size, weight, and cost compared to designs based on competitors' magnetic position sensor ICs. The high sensitivity of the AS5147P also allows for the use of low-cost target magnets as small as 6 mm in diameter.

In addition, AS5147P supports automotive OEMs' ISO26262 compliance programs in various ways.

· AS5147P was developed to comply with the ISO26262 standard and follows the SEooC (Safety Element out of Context) and AoU (Assumption of Use) guidelines specified in the standard. Accordingly, it supports manufacturers in achieving any ASIL grade requirements.

ams provides safety manuals and FMEDA (Failure Mode Effects Diagnostic Analysis) data for AS5147P, and offers methods for customers to achieve target ASIL ratings in various applications.

· Evidence of safety practices, certifications, and AECQ-100 qualification (PPAP) is ready to be provided as development process data for AS5147P.

· The integrated SEooC process in accordance with ISO26262 and the materials supporting ISO26262 have been certified by an independent third-party certification body.

· AS5147P provides internal diagnostic functions that support the ISO26262 process, including magnetic field strength threshold detection and magnetic damage detection.

The AS5147P provides both absolute and incremental angle measurements of a continuously rotating shaft with a zero position setting. Through a standard 4-wire serial peripheral interface, the host microcontroller can read 14-bit absolute angle position data and program non-volatile settings without a dedicated programmer.

The incremental shift is represented by an ABI signal with a maximum resolution of 4,096 steps/1,024 pulses per revolution. The resolution of the ABI signal can be programmed to 4,096 steps/1,024 pulses per revolution, 2,048 steps/512 pulses per revolution, or 1,024 steps/256 pulses per revolution. BLDC (Brushless DC) motors can be controlled via standard UVW communication by making the number of pole pairs programmable from 1 to 7.

Heinz Oyrer, Senior Marketing Manager at ams, stated, “It is widely known as the best solution for rotational position detection in automobiles due to its outstanding accuracy, compact size, low system cost, and integration of magnetic position sensors. By offering the AS5147P, ams has introduced a magnetic position sensor that perfectly aligns with OEMs’ ISO26262 compliance programs while eliminating the need to worry about stray magnetic field effects.”

AS5147P is currently available in mass production quantities in TSSOP-14 packages. The unit price is $5.31 per 1,000 units.

Demo boards for the AS5147P are available through ams’ ICdirect online shop. Sample requests and detailed technical information can be found at www.ams.com/Magnetic-Position-Sensors/AS5147P.