New Generation of LIN Transceiver Targets Europe Platforms

November 16, 2011 - Tessenderlo, Belgium. Melexis: LIN (Local Interconnect Network) nodes continue exponential growth rate in Europe. To address this growing need for LIN transceivers Melexis introduces its next Generation LIN transceiver IC for LIN Bus systems according to the LIN 2.x standard. The MLX80020BA extends Melexis’ existing product line of LIN transceivers and System Basis Chips as well as fully integrated LIN solutions.

The LIN bus continues its successful adoption in automotive applications. This robust, cost effective communication scheme enables many basic networking functions in sub-systems previously considered to be uneconomical for smart sensors, actuators and controls. As a consequence of this successful implementation of many different LIN applications there is a need for LIN transceivers to manage the physical connection of the standard MCU to the LIN bus. Melexis new MLX80020BA easily meets the demand for LIN transceivers compliant to the LIN 2.x standard.

The MLX80020BA is a standalone LIN transceiver with outstanding performance. Designed and fabricated in 0.35 micron HV-CMOS technology enables lower system costs for our customers LIN implementations. This transceiver has built in safety functions including TxD dominant time out as well as high impedance bus pin in case of loss of ground and under-voltage condition. The pin configuration of this new LIN transceiver is compatible to the defined standard pin out of the OEMs.

The EMC behavior of LIN Bus ICs is critical in automotive applications. The MLX80020BA design exhibits remarkable robustness when subjected to the injection of high frequency disturbances. The IC has also achieved very low electromagnetic emission to further simplify the design challenges of networked communication in hostile automotive environments. The timing parameters are optimized for the data transmission according LIN 2.x to obtain excellent EMC behavior.

The MLX80020BA meets the automotive temperature range of -40°C to 125°C and has on chip protection against over-temperature, 40V load dump and LIN short to ground resulting in a lower system component count and cost. The integrated standby management assures that the MLX80020BA can “wake up” from the LIN bus itself or directly from a connected microcontroller or an additional external source. Typical current consumption in sleep mode is lower than 9µA. PPAP samples are available and come in a cost efficient SOIC8 RoHS compliant package.