Current range doubled from 7A to 14A
Specializing in vehicle exterior lighting, power distribution, and lighting
Device parameters, up to 6 channels
In-vehicle ECUs, such as junction boxes, fuses, and relay boxes, are becoming increasingly complex as they support more and more functions.

Infineon Technologies AG announced the launch of its next-generation multichannel SPI high-side power controller, SPOC. This product family is currently widely used in the multichannel high-side smart switch market for automotive exterior lighting applications. The new SPOC+2 family is designed for interior and exterior lighting applications, power distribution applications such as door locks and seat heating, and lighting and power distribution loads for e-bikes.

The SPOC+2 family offers greater flexibility within applications. For example, while previous generations offered two predefined modes for bulb or LED loads, the new products allow for individual configuration of key device parameters, such as slew rate, load current sense ratio (K _ILIS ), and overload detection current, for up to six channels. Furthermore, this configuration does not negatively impact the on-state resistance R _DS(ON) . Furthermore, two channels can drive one load in parallel. As a result, the supported current range has doubled from the previous 1.5A to 7A to the current 1.5A to 14A.

Customers of the SPOC+2 family can flexibly respond to sudden changes in requirements from OEMs. The SPOC+2 family allows easy transitions between products within the family. All products share a common pinout, common software concept, and the same package. Compared to the previous generation, Infineon's high-end BTS72220-4ESA/E package size has been reduced by more than 50%. Therefore, all SPOC+2 products, measuring 52 ^mm² , require only half the footprint of comparable devices on the market capable of switching up to 241 W.

The SPOC+2 product integrates a grounding diode, enabling simpler and less expensive system-level solutions. Since no additional external grounding diode is required, the grounding circuit only requires a small, low-power resistor (47Ω) instead of a 100Ω resistor.

The new product family offers additional configurable protection features that can be applied individually to each channel. In addition to features such as short-circuit and overload protection, the SPOC+2 includes a configurable overload detection current. The protection can be configured for limited restart or immediate latch-off.

Infineon offers a common diagnostic concept via SPI for all SPOC+2 product families. These products include enhanced diagnostic features such as open load in the off state and battery short circuits. The SPOC+2 family is scheduled to be available from October 2018.

“Our new multi-channel SPOC products enable customers to reduce hardware variants and module sizes, thereby lowering costs and saving space in automotive packaging,” said Andreas Doll, Vice President and General Manager, Automotive Body Power Business Unit at Infineon. Infineon plans to ship approximately 100 million SPOC products in 2019,” he said.