Reinforcing Company's Commitment to Space Solutions, New Device Addresses Challenge of Reducing Weight and Board Area on Satellites
ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Nov. 15, 2016 — (PRNewswire) — Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq: MSCC), a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, today announced it is sampling the LX7720 radiation-tolerant motor controller, the newest member of its Space System Manager (SSM) product family. As the industry's first highly integrated radiation-tolerant motor control integrated circuit (IC), the LX7720 significantly reduces weight and board space relative to conventional discrete motor control circuits, offering a unique solution for satellite manufacturers sensitive to area and weight challenges.
Microsemi's SSM product family of special purpose mixed signal devices leverages the company's more than 50 years of space heritage and provides its customers with innovative space system solutions solving application-specific challenges. As the second member of the SSM family, joining the previously announced LX7730 radiation-tolerant telemetry controller IC, the new LX7720 works with a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and complements Microsemi's other components specifically designed for the demanding space market.
"As the reduction of weight and board space on satellites continues to challenge the aerospace market, we are pleased to reinforce our commitment to developing innovative solutions with this highly reliable radiation-tolerant motor controller," said Dorian Johnson, product line manager for Microsemi's analog mixed signal space products. "Our ever-growing space product portfolio continues to strengthen our leadership position and customer relationships in this market as we maximize the amount of Microsemi content on these sophisticated satellites."
The LX7720 has already been adopted by customers to enable various motor control applications in space robotics and human-rated space programs. Additional target applications for the device include motor driver servo control, linear actuator servo control and driving stepper, brushless direct current (BLDC), and permanent-magnet synchronous (PMSM) motors. These motors can be found on satellite busses (solar panel deployment and driving reaction wheels), on spacecraft payload instruments (multi-axis pointing mechanisms for antennas and laser terminals; precise motion control of lenses, filters, and mirrors), and in robotics applications (pressure-sensitive motion control).
According to Euroconsult's 2015 report titled, "Satellites to Be Built & Launched by 2024," 60 percent more satellites will be launched by 2024 versus the past decade. This increase is driven primarily by civilian government agencies as established space countries replace and expand their in-orbit satellite systems and more countries acquire their first operational satellite systems.
Key features of the LX7720 include:
- Four half-bridge N-channel MOSFET drivers
- Four floating differential current sensors
- Pulse modulated resolver transformer driver
- Three differential resolver sense inputs
- Six bi-level logic inputs
- Fault detection
- Radiation-tolerant: 100 krad total ionization dose (TID), 50 krad enhanced low dose radiation sensitivity (ELDRS) and single event immune
- Power drivers via external field-effect transistors (FETs)
- Loop control electronics for voltage or current control
- Position read-back (resolver, potentiometer, limit switches, etc.)
- Highest integration solution
- Development board available to work with company's RTG4™ FPGA Development Kit
Product Availability
Microsemi's LX7720 radiation-tolerant motor controller is available for sampling now. For more information, visit
http://www.microsemi.com/product-directory/space-system-managers/3708-position-motor-controller-ic or contact
Email Contact.
Microsemi Leading Space Innovation for More than Half a Century
With one of the industry's most comprehensive portfolios of space products, Microsemi provides radiation-tolerant (FPGAs, radiation-hardened mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs), radiation-hardened DC-to-DC converters, precision time and frequency solutions, linear and POL hybrids, custom hybrid solutions, and radiation-hardened discretes including the broadest portfolio of JANS Class diodes and bipolar products. Microsemi is committed to supporting its products throughout the lifetime of its customer programs. The company continues to innovate and expand its portfolio, with recent additions including its
LX7730 radiation-tolerant telemetry controller IC providing key functions for sensor monitoring, attitude and payload control, as well as its
RTG4™ high-speed signal processing radiation-tolerant FPGA family. The RTG4's reprogrammable flash technology offers complete immunity to radiation-induced configuration upsets in the harshest radiation environments, requiring no configuration scrubbing, unlike SRAM FPGA technology. For more information about Microsemi's space products, visit
http://www.microsemi.com/applications/space.
About Microsemi
Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq:
MSCC) offers a comprehensive portfolio of semiconductor and system solutions for aerospace & defense, communications, data center and industrial markets. Products include high-performance and radiation-hardened analog mixed-signal integrated circuits, FPGAs, SoCs and ASICs; power management products; timing and synchronization devices and precise time solutions, setting the world's standard for time; voice processing devices; RF solutions; discrete components; enterprise storage and communication solutions, security technologies and scalable anti-tamper products; Ethernet solutions; Power-over-Ethernet ICs and midspans; as well as custom design capabilities and services. Microsemi is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, and has approximately 4,800 employees globally. Learn more at
www.microsemi.com.
Microsemi and the Microsemi logo are registered trademarks or service marks of Microsemi Corporation and/or its affiliates. Third-party trademarks and service marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Any statements set forth in this news release that are not entirely historical and factual in nature, including without limitation statements related to its LX7720 radiation-tolerant motor controller, the newest member of its Space System Manager (SSM) product family, and its potential effects on future business, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, such factors as rapidly changing technology and product obsolescence, potential cost increases, variations in customer order preferences, weakness or competitive pricing environment of the marketplace, uncertain demand for and acceptance of the company's products, adverse circumstances in any of our end markets, results of in-process or planned development or marketing and promotional campaigns, difficulties foreseeing future demand, potential non-realization of expected orders or non-realization of backlog, product returns, product liability, and other potential unexpected business and economic conditions or adverse changes in current or expected industry conditions, difficulties and costs in implementing the company's acquisitions and divestitures strategy or integrating acquired companies, uncertainty as to the future profitability of acquired businesses and realization of accretion from acquisition transactions, difficulties and costs of protecting patents and other proprietary rights, inventory obsolescence and difficulties regarding customer qualification of products. In addition to these factors and any other factors mentioned elsewhere in this news release, the reader should refer as well to the factors, uncertainties or risks identified in the company's most recent Form 10-K and all subsequent Form 10-Q reports filed by Microsemi with the SEC. Additional risk factors may be identified from time to time in Microsemi's future filings. The forward-looking statements included in this release speak only as of the date hereof, and Microsemi does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
