TI's new transformer module technology maximizes EV drive time

Texas Instruments (TI) recently introduced the industry’s smallest and most accurate 1.5-W isolated DC/DC bias-supply module. The UCC14240-Q1 uses a proprietary integrated transformer technology to enable designers to cut their power solution size in half for use in high-voltage environments such as electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid EVs, motor-drive systems, and grid-tied inverters.

Engineers can meet the need for smaller, lighter systems by cutting power solution size in half with new easy-to-use, bias-supply module

With the accelerating growth of the EV market, automotive design engineers are looking for ways to improve efficiency and reliability, while also reducing the weight of the heaviest part of the EV: the powertrain.

To help meet the need for smaller, more reliable systems to extend driving range, engineers are moving to a distributed power architecture, a scheme where every isolated gate driver has a dedicated bias supply.

This architecture improves how the system reacts to single-point failures. For example, if one bias supply fails, the other bias supplies remain operational, as do their paired gate drivers — helping to keep a vehicle safely on the road.

Fully integrated power solutions such as the UCC14240-Q1 help engineers take advantage of distributed architecture. Learn more by reading the technical article, “Driving next-generation EV systems with a distributed architecture in a bias-supply.”

TI is demonstrating the UCC14240-Q1 at the TI Live! Tech Exchange virtual event, Sept. 27-29, 2021. Learn more at ti.com/techexchange.

Extend driving range
The UCC14240-Q1 offers size and efficiency advantages that enable greater power density and system efficiency, which can allow vehicles to drive farther between charges. The 3.55-mm height and small footprint of the UCC14240-Q1 enable designers to reduce the power solution volume by as much as 50 percent, packing more power in half the size.

The height reduction also gives engineers the full flexibility to place the module on either side of the printed circuit board.

This dual-output power module offers 60% efficiency — twice that of traditional bias supplies — doubling the power density and helping increase vehicle driving range.

By delivering more than 1.5 W at ambient temperatures of 105° C, the UCC14240-Q1 enables engineers to drive isolated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), silicon carbide (SiC), and gallium nitride (GaN) switches at high frequencies.

Speed time to market
By leveraging TI’s integrated transformer technology with a 3.5-pF primary-to-secondary capacitance, the UCC14240-Q1 can mitigate EMI caused by high-speed switching and comfortably achieve common-mode transient immunity (CMTI) performance of more than 150 V/ns.

Featuring soft switching, spread-spectrum modulation, shielding and low parasitics, the UCC14240-Q1 enables designs to more easily meet the electromagnetic compatibility standards of Comité International Spécial des Perturbations Radioélectriques (CISPR) 25 and CISPR 32, speeding time to market.

Protect vehicle performance
The UCC14240-Q1’s integrated closed-loop control enables ±1.0% accuracy from -40° to 150° C. The device’s tight tolerance enables the use of smaller power switches while also improving overcurrent protection.

Fault monitoring, overcurrent protection, overpower protection, and overtemperature protection are all fully integrated. The UCC14240-Q1 offers third-party-certified 3-kVrms isolation and delivers the industry’s best vibration immunity due to its ultra-low weight and 3.55-mm height.