Index across motor types (BDC/BLDC/PMSM/FOC/Stepper/Linear-VCM/Piezo), power-stage integration, commutation & control, current sensing & PWM, protection & diagnostics, interfaces & safety, application recipes, key specs, design hooks, and reference pairings.
By Motor Type
Brushed DC Driver (H-Bridge)
Full/half bridge with PWM speed, DIR/BRAKE pins; suited for fans, valves and small actuators.
BLDC Driver (3-Phase Trapezoidal)
Six-step commutation with Hall or sensorless BEMF zero-crossing; fans and pumps.
PMSM / FOC Driver
FOC/SVM with closed current loops, encoder/resolver or sensorless estimation; servos, power tools, compressors.
Stepper Driver (Bipolar/Unipolar)
Microstepping (1/2…1/256), constant-current chopping (slow/mixed/fast) and low-noise schemes for CNC/3D printers.
Linear / Voice-Coil / Piezo Driver
Current-mode or charge-pump/high-voltage drive for autofocus/OIS and precision positioning.
Power Stage Integration
Integrated Power Stage (LV MOSFETs)
Single-chip half/full/three-phase stages for battery systems (2S–6S) and compact designs.
Gate Driver + External FET/IGBT
Controller + driver with external devices for higher voltage/current scalability.
Power Module Companion Driver
Pinout and protection matched to IPM/SiC/GaN modules for quick integration.
Synchronous Rectifier Driver (Motor PSU)
Secondary-side SR control for the motor PSU to improve efficiency and thermal margin.
Control & Commutation
Hall-Based Commutation
Robust low-speed starts, noise filtering, and tolerant 3-Hall/2-Hall schemes.
Sensorless BEMF Detection
Zero-cross/third-voltage methods, low-speed start strategies and stall exit handling.
Field-Oriented Control (FOC) w/ Current Loops
Clarke/Park transforms, SVM/SVPWM and PI/PR controllers for precise torque control.
Position/Speed Feedback
ABZ/UVW/SSI interfaces, resolver front-ends and loss-of-step protection.
Microstepping & Chopping
Constant-current chopping, mixed-decay tuning and acoustic-silent strategies.
Current Sensing & Modulation
Low-Side / Bus Shunt
Low cost with software phase compensation; bus-side OCP visibility only.
In-Line Phase Shunt / DCR Sensing
High accuracy for FOC; synchronized sampling window design.
Integrated CSA / ΣΔ Modulator
On-chip zero-drift amplifiers or isolated bitstreams to simplify high-side/HV sensing.
Chopping & PWM Strategy
SVPWM/sine/six-step shapes, spread-spectrum noise reduction and sampling-edge avoidance.
Protection & Diagnostics
Over-Current / Short-Circuit
DESAT or threshold OCP, peak/average detection with programmable retry or latch.
Over-Temperature & Thermal Foldback
Junction estimation, thermal sharing, and decoupling/layout guidelines.
UVLO / OVP
Separate thresholds for gate/analog domains; battery sinking/back-feed protection.
Stall / Overload / Overspeed
Stall detection, current/speed thresholds and controlled soft stop.
Diagnostics & Black-Box
Error codes and timestamps with I²C/SPI/UART reporting.
Interfaces & System Hooks
Control Interfaces
PWM/UART/I²C/SPI/CAN-FD with multi-axis sync triggers and live FOC parameter tuning.
Encoder / Hall / Resolver Inputs
Debounce/OV protection and timestamp capture for ABZ/UVW/SSI or resolver front-ends.
Power Path & eFuse
Inrush limiting, ideal-diode OR-ing and regenerative braking energy handling.
Functional Safety & Automotive
ASIL diagnostics coverage, redundant stop paths, watchdog/CRC and AEC-Q qualifications.
Application-Focused
Fans & Pumps (BLDC)
Sensorless start/lock exit, low acoustic noise and cavitation-shock robustness.
Appliance Compressors (PMSM)
FOC + PFC coordination, low-speed torque and EMI/harmonic control.
Power Tools
High peak currents, fast transient response and thermal-limit with BMS cooperation.
Robotics / AGV (Servo)
Encoder closed-loop, TSN/real-time Ethernet, and regenerative braking.
Automotive Seat/Window
Low standby, selective wake (LIN/CAN) and anti-pinch detection.
3D Printing / CNC
Fine microstepping + silent modes, S-curve jerk control and missed-step detection.
Key Specs & Selection
VIN / IOUT Capability
Battery 2S–12S, 12–48–60 V industrial, peak current and SOA considerations.
Power Loss & Thermal
Conduction vs. switching loss, thermal resistance and heatsinking strategies.
Current/Speed Loop Bandwidth
Sampling phase, delay/jitter budgeting and practical FOC bandwidth targets.
EMI & Acoustic Noise
Spread-spectrum/random PWM and mechanical/coil whine mitigation.
Low-Speed Torque & Cogging
Electrical angle estimation, dead-time compensation and non-linear feed-forward.
Interface & Timing
Multi-axis sync, position alignment and emergency-stop response time.
Reliability
ESD/surge, short-to-VBAT/GND robustness and harsh environment (humidity/salt-fog).
Design Hooks & Pitfalls
Power & Return Paths
Shortest power loops, Kelvin source sensing and PGND/AGND partition with single-point return.
Sampling & Sync
Stagger sampling from PWM edges; convert bus-current to phase and handle saturation.
Gate/Driver Loop
Split gate resistors, Miller clamp and dv/dt injection suppression (align with gate-driver rules).
Chopper & Microstep Noise
Decay-mode selection, idle whine mitigation and resonance avoidance.
Layout & EMI
Shield switch nodes, copper partitioning, RC snubbers/ferrites; RC/TVS at long motor leads.
Thermal & Paralleling
Phase/bridge thermal balance, copper thickness/via arrays and co-located thermal probes.
Braking & Regeneration
Energy dump (brake resistor/supercap), bus OVP and BMS/power-path coordination.
Safety & Fail-Safe
OCP→soft-stop→latch/retry staircase, power-loss hold-up and re-power ramp.
Reference Pairings
FOC 3-Phase
PMSM driver IC + 3× in-line shunts, low-jitter clock and isolated current bitstreams (HV).
Silent Stepper
Microstepping driver + mixed-decay tuning + spread-spectrum + mechanical/viscous damping.
Automotive Fan
Sensorless BLDC + selective wake (LIN/CAN-FD) with eFuse front-end.
Tools / UAV
High-current driver + SiC/GaN half-bridge, negative gate-off and fast OCP.
