If you are the type of driver who likes to “look under the hood” when your dashboard shows those cute engine icons —or if you are just curious about how hybrid and electric vehicles operate — there’s a new white paper out that will spark your interest.
Sunnyvale, California-based Fujitsu Semiconductor America (FSA) has issued a technical backgrounder that provides handy information on HEV and EV engines and, specifically, on how MB91580 series motor control microcontrollers (MCUs) simplify hybrid and electric vehicle design.
A central element of hybrid and electric vehicles is the electric motor in the powertrain, which is deployed in combination with a conventional internal combustion engine in hybrid cars, or as an independent source of power for electric vehicles. Selecting the motor requires careful analysis of the dimensions, weight, reliability, robustness, required torque, and total efficiency.
Many EVs and HEVs today — including the Nissan LEAF, the Chevolet Volt, the Toyota Prius, the Ford Fusion, and the Fisker Karma — have a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). This motor type features high torque, coupled with compact dimensions and high efficiency (about 94 percent).
Fujitsu (News - Alert) has now designed a microcontroller that will make maximum use of available energy. The new MB91580 series — a part of the Fujitsu FR family of 32-bit RISC microcontrollers — offers three-phase inverter motor
control and an embedded resolver interface for electric and hybrid electric vehicles.
The MCU offers high performance combined with optimized peripherals. The MB91580 series was designed to provide special features for efficient loopback control. The devices offer a 12-bit Analog to Digital Converter (ADC (News 
- Alert)) and a 12-bit Resolver to Digital Converter (RDC) to detect motor current and position at high speed and with high resolution. The electric angle of the revolver, which is calculated by the RDC, is latched into dedicated registers and synchronized with the three-phase current detected by the ADC. Control algorithms benefit from the floating point unit (FPU) and will speed up vector conversion and calculations using decimal point numbers by 10 to 15 percent compared to standard integer processing.
The MB91580 series feature Fujitsu's advanced flash memory technology, including dedicated program memory and a separate work flash for E2PROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) emulation storage.
“To realize their full potential, HEVs and EVs require safe, cost-effective and high-capacity energy storage systems, and highly efficient electric motors,” said Akio Nezu, senior manager of Marketing, Fujitsu Semiconductor America. “To achieve this, automotive system designers need increasingly advanced microcontrollers featuring efficient software algorithms and optimized peripherals to make maximum use of available energy. The Fujitsu MB91580 MCUs are optimized for three-phase HEV and EV motor control, and deliver the superior performance, integration, and cost-effectiveness necessary to meet these requirements.”
The backgrounder, entitled “Sophisticated MB91580 Series MCUs Can Simplify Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Motor Control Designs,” is available on the Fujitsu website.
Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
