DETROIT, Mich. — Atmel Corporation, a global leader in the development and fabrication of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced today the availability of the new monolithically-integrated ATA6264 airbag system power supply IC especially suited for high-end automotive airbag applications. The new device, manufactured in high-voltage 0.8-um BCD technology, provides a set of features not available from any other competitive device, the company says, including measures against undervoltage conditions and battery cable loss, intelligent power sequencing, integrated watchdog and other diagnostic/monitoring functions. In addition, the ATA6264 provides high accuracy as well as flexibility due to its programmability.

The ATA6264 handles the voltage supply for complete airbag systems (which includes the sensors, microcontrollers, and firing devices) with programmable voltage levels. Communication with the microcontroller is carried out via a 16-bit SPI, while two ISO9141 interfaces enable the communication with diagnostic testers; one of these interfaces can be customer-programmed as a LIN interface.

The voltage supply section of the ATA6264 consists of a boost converter with adjustable voltage, two buck converters and a linear regulator that can be customer-programmed. This flexibility allows the user to adapt the ATA6264 to the needs of different system requirements and thus simplifies stocking issues.

As a unique feature, if the airbag power supply IC detects an undervoltage condition and the loss of the supply voltage (for example, a battery cable disconnect during a crash), then it automatically draws its energy from a back-up capacitor connected to the boost converter.

Product information on Atmel's new airbag system is available at: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=4000.