Date: 15/06/2012

24V eXtreme switch family from Freescale for automotive applications

Freescale Semiconductor has announced the intelligent, multi-purpose, dual-side eXtreme switch with protection against the harsh 24V environment found in trucks, buses and special engines. This solution is suitable for automotive developers looking for increased integration, flexibility and durability.

"Our customers face many challenges with today's switching solutions, such as lack of flexibility, a large number of loads driven per board and thermal management," said Gavin Woods, vice president and general manager of Freescale's Analog, Mixed-Signal and Power division. "Our 24V eXtreme switch solutions are designed to satisfy these requirements while reducing cost and board size and speeding up time to market."

The first three members of the 24V eXtreme switch family are the MC06XS4200, MC10XS4200 and MC20XS4200 devices for applications such as lighting, DC motors, high-current/highly inductive load and low-current/LED lighting.

The features of the switch family:
1. High quality and reliability
2. Flexibility for special engines and buses (low platform volume)
3. High nominal and transient voltages
4. Failsafe operation
5. Pulse width modulation (PWM) for load protection, control and efficiency
6. Diagnostics
7. Cost, size, weight, efficiency improvement over current solutions

The switches for 24V systems feature current capability ranging from 1 to 12A DC and are fully footprint- and software- compatible. The output can be programmed to be used for loads such as lamps, LEDs, motors or solenoids.