Toshiba Electronics Europe announced the shipment of engineering samples for the TB9104FTG, a gate driver IC designed to control high-current brushed dc motors used in automotive body and comfort systems. Target applications include powered tailgates, sliding doors, and seat adjusters commonly found in electric vehicles (EVs) and other electrified platforms.
The gate driver supports standard PWM input control and an integrated serial peripheral interface (SPI) for motor operation. Multiple motors can be controlled over a single SPI bus, reducing wiring harness complexity and easing MCU pin and processing requirements in distributed body control systems.
Integrated PWM clock-generation circuitry allows the host microcontroller to initiate motor drive using a single SPI command. This approach reduces MCU load and helps manage communication traffic in systems with multiple electrically driven actuators.
The device is housed in a VQFN32 package measuring approximately 5.0 × 5.0 mm and includes an exposed thermal pad to support heat dissipation when paired with external H-bridge MOSFETs. Dual half-bridge operation is supported, enabling simultaneous control of two dc motors, which is relevant for space and cost-constrained EV body electronics.
To support safety in high-current automotive applications, the TB9104FTG integrates a high-precision current-sense amplifier that provides feedback to the MCU for controlled shutdown during abnormal current conditions. Additional diagnostic and protection functions include detection of undervoltage, charge-pump overvoltage, overtemperature, external MOSFET faults, and SPI communication errors.
The device is scheduled for AEC-Q100 Grade 1 qualification and is designed to operate over a temperature range of −40° to +125° C, supporting reliability requirements for automotive and EV electrical systems.
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