Mass Selects Infineon Sensor Chips

Infineon Technologies AG (FSE:IFX/OTCQX:IFNNY) recently announced that Volkswagen AG's Hallmark sensor will be selected by the automotive electric power steering system manufactured by the Braunschweig plant in the future. Infineon’s TLE4998C4 programmable linear Hall sensor will be used in a wide variety of vehicle models. At present, Infineon has begun to provide such chips.

Each of the electric power steering systems manufactured by the Volkswagen Braunschweig plant in Germany employs two Infineon Hall sensors and is primarily responsible for accurate steering torque control. They are responsible for measuring the applied steering force and steering angle and sending this information to the control unit of the electric power steering system. The control unit of the electric power steering system will then optimise the motor control in terms of the required assistance and energy. The Hall sensor is mounted in a sensor module manufactured by Valeo Schal-ter und Sensoren GmbH and supplied to a Braunschweig factory.

Fundamentally, the TLE4998 Hall sensor is suitable for applications that require precise rotation and position detection. Automotive applications include pedal, throttle or shift lever position detection, suspension control, or direct torque detection for electric power steering. The unique performance of the Infineon Hall sensor gives it a clear advantage in this area. The long-term stability of temperature compensation and stress compensation of these sensors ensures that the signal has a consistent high accuracy – throughout the entire life cycle of the car, regardless of weather conditions. The TLE4998 Hall sensor has a digital interface with protection to support system reliability.

Hall sensor technology features: unique stress compensation Infineon is the only company in the world to provide Hall sensors with three interfaces: Short PWM Codes (SPC), Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), and Single Edge Nibble Transmission (SENT). In this way, Infineon supports analog-to-digital communications between sensors and control units in automotive steering systems. The SENT and SPC interfaces allow the system supplier to respond flexibly to the vehicle manufacturer's interface requirements.

Compared with the current mainstream PWM communication, the SPC interface can enhance the accuracy and reliability of related applications in the automotive safety field because it enables the control unit to implement synchronous data transmission. This function means that the microcontroller of the control unit can selectively collect sensor measurement data for processing and provide current measurement data.

The TLE4998 is specifically designed to provide temperature fluctuation and mechanical stress compensation throughout the entire life cycle of the vehicle. Its sensitivity reliability is three to four times that of sensors that do not have stress compensation.

TLE4998 series of three interface models are: TLE4998C (SPC), TLE4998P (PWM) and TLE4998S (SENT). Each model is available in two packages: 3-pin PG-SSO-3 and 4-pin PG-SSO-4. The PG-SSO-4 package has a thickness of only 1 mm, which facilitates the insertion of Infineon’s TLE4998 Hall sensor into the narrow space common to electric power steering systems. In addition, using a packaged device with two external ceramic capacitors can further improve the electromagnetic compatibility of this type of sensor, eliminating the need to connect external capacitors.