GENERAL DESCRIPTION
In cases where all output drivers are not active, higher output current per channel can be achieved provided that the thermal limits of the device are not exceeded. Furthermore, in order to minimize system cost each output driver has built-in fly-back diodes. The device withstands short-circuits to ground and supply, respectively. It is designed with an array of integrated protection features including over-temperature and over-current detection and shut down. The integrated charge pump requires only one external capacitor and provides for operation of the critical fault-protection circuitry even in case of low supply voltages. The device can be interfaced to a variety of microcontrollers via the serial peripheral interface (SPI) link, in turn allowing for monitoring and controlling the state of each of the output drivers individually. In this case, at the onset of a potential hazardous situation the drivers are switched off and the diagnostic state of the drivers can be extracted via the SPI interface.
AMI SEMICONDUCTOR
