IC cuts car access system costs

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Apr 23, 2008

The ATA5279 is capable of sequentially driving up to six separate 125kHz low-frequency antennas to provide a wake up and initialisation channel to the key fob

Atmel's ATA5279 LF coil driver IC is designed for passive entry go (PEG) and passive go (PG) hands-free car access systems.

Compared to today's discrete or ASIC solutions, this IC enables much smaller and considerably less expensive designs, as well as increasing reliability.

The ATA5279 is capable of sequentially driving up to six separate 125kHz low-frequency antennas to provide a wake up and initialisation channel to the key fob.

Superior EMC behaviour is guaranteed by the sinusoidal-like output signals at all six channels, which helps avoid interferences with other electronic car components.

In addition, the IC has twenty individually selectable coil currents steps at each channel to enable precise field-strength measurements.

The ATA5279 monitors all six connected antennas and stores any possible failures in the internal register.

As a result of this, the ATA5279 protects the system and itself from any damage, reducing service work at the OEM's assembly line and authorised repair shops.

The ATA5279 is manufactured using Atmel's own BCD-on-SOI (Smart-IS) technology, which results in a power-down current consumption of 6 to 8uA, minimising battery usage.

The ATA5279 also meets strict automotive qualification demands by withstanding load dump and jump start scenarios as specified by ISO/TR 7637/1.

The ATA5279 is also fully protected against electrical and thermal overloads.

An LF trigger board (ATAB5279), an AVR-based main board (ATAB-LFMB-79), a 3D LF receiver board (ATAB5282) and an additional LF antenna module (ATAB-LFTX-Mod1) are also available.