ROHM’s New ±1% Accuracy Current Sense Amplifier ICs Reduce Mounting Area by Approximately 46% Over Conventional Configurations

ROHM Semiconductor announced the BD1421x-LA series of space-saving, high accuracy current sense amplifier ICs for industrial (e.g., wireless base stations, PLCs, inverters) and consumer applications (e.g., home appliances).

For years, the demand for current sensing has been increasing in several applications. For example, high accuracy current sensing is required to improve motor rotation efficiency and to detect abnormalities. At the same time, smaller mounting area is required. However, conventional configurations (operational amplifier + discrete components) generally face challenges such as deterioration of current sensing accuracy due to variations in component accuracy and temperature characteristics. Also, it is difficult to keep the mounting area small.

In response, ROHM leveraged its strengths in analog technology to develop a new series of current sense amplifier ICs that achieves high accuracy current sensing in a space-saving design. The BD14210G-LA incorporates all required peripheral components, which simplifies current sensing by connecting a shunt resistor and a bypass capacitor. This reduces the number of components from eleven to just three compared to conventional configurations (operational amplifier + discrete components). Furthermore, it decreases the mounting area by 46% (SSOP6 package). Additionally, a highly accurate current detection of ±1% has been achieved over the entire temperature range (-40°C to +125°C). The internal circuitry prevents current detection accuracy to decrease even when an external RC filter circuit for noise suppression is added. That minimizes the number of manhours required for design. The wide input voltage range (-0.2V to +26V) makes the BD14210G-LA ideal for current sensing applications operating from 12V/24V power supplies.

Product Lineup

In addition to the BD14210G-LA that is already in mass production, a total of eight models are scheduled to be released. The lineup will include both single-channel and dual-channels variants in four different gain settings (20, 50, 100, 200V/V).

Application Examples

*       Industrial equipment: Wireless base stations, PLC, inverters, chargers, etc.
*       Consumer devices: Air purifiers, refrigerators and more

Reference Design

Support materials, such as a reference design (REFSENS003), along with SPICE models, are available on ROHM’s website: www.rohm.com

Evaluation Board

Evaluation Board Part No: BD14210G-EVK-001

Online Sales Information

*       Applicable Part No: BD14210G-LATR
*       Availability: Now (in mass production)
*       Online Distributors: Digi-Key and Mouser; also scheduled for release at other online distributors