Freescale Octal Serial Switch Family Brings Versatile Power Distribution toAutomotive Electronics

Flexible Driver ICs for High- and Low-Side Switching Simplify the Design of In-Vehicle Body Control Module Systems

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Freescale Semiconductor is bringing enhanced load control capability to designers of automotive driver instrumentation, body control modules and other in-vehicle electronics applications. The company’s family of advanced MC338xx and MC3399x octal serial switch integrated circuits (ICs) is designed to manage control of multiple high-side loads, reduce board space and enhance automotive electronics system reliability.

As body control module capabilities grow more sophisticated, automotive designers must develop electronic systems that can detect a variety of vehicle conditions and act quickly to control multiple loads across a wide range of body applications. Freescale’s octal serial switch IC family provides the control flexibility designers need. The family is designed to control low-current on/off type inductive loads, such as relays and solenoids, as well as LED indicators and small lamps with integral thermal and over-voltage, over-current protection.

"Freescale’s octal serial switch family is taking automotive power distribution to a new level of versatility," said Arman Naghavi, vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Analog, Mixed-Signal and Power Division. “As the need to control multiple DC loads grows increasingly common, the ability to configure multiple outputs quickly and efficiently has become a sought-after feature. Our serial switch family, with up to 16 outputs and advanced self-configuration capabilities, effectively addresses this technical challenge.”

Freescale’s MC338xx and MC3399x devices reduce the number of necessary components and simplify body electronics designs, providing flexibility, load protection, and weight and size savings. Interior lighting control application solutions have typically employed multiple load-carrying switches (one switch for each lamp) or use discrete semiconductor power devices to power each lamp. Another common body application, power door locks, uses multiple electrical power door lock solenoids (one for each passenger door).

Octal serial switch family features

-- Multiple high-side and low-side drivers with diagnostic capability
-- Integral device protection
-- Over-temperature protection
-- Over- and under-voltage protection
-- Wide operating voltage range (5V to more than 25V)
-- Load current capability of up to 2.5 A per channel peak current
-- Low quiescent and standby current
-- Cost-effective 32- and 54-pin SOIC packages
-- Operation within automotive temperatures (-40 to +125 degrees
Celsius)

Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) control

-- Directly interfaces with 3.3V or 5.0V microcontrollers
-- Provides input control and diagnostic feedback
-- Expandable control via SPI system daisy chain

Pricing and availability

Freescale's octal serial switch IC family is available now in
production quantities. Suggested per-unit resale pricing (USD) in
10,000-piece quantities follows:

-- MC33879 8-channel single octal serial switch at $1.83
-- MC33880 8-channel single octal serial switch at $2.01
-- MC33996 16-channel dual octal serial switch at $2.75
-- MC33999 16-channel dual octal serial switch at $3.48

For more information on the octal serial switch IC family, including development tool availability, visit http://www.freescale.com/files/pr/os_switch.html.

About Freescale Semiconductor

Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies with sales of $6.2 billion (USD) for the previous four quarters. www.freescale.com