Atmel Unveils Industry’s First Off-the-Shelf LF Antenna Driver IC for Passive Entry Go/Passive Go Systems

Atmel Unveils Industry’s First Off-the-Shelf LF Antenna Driver IC for Passive Entry Go/Passive Go Systems

Heilbronn, Germany, April 22, 2008…Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML), announced today the availability of the new LF coil driver IC ATA5279 designed for Passive Entry Go (PEG) and Passive Go (PG) hands-free car access systems. This is industry’s first and only off-the-shelf antenna driver IC. Compared to today’s discrete or ASIC solutions, this IC enables much smaller and considerably less expensive designs, while at the same time offering increased reliability.

The ATA5279 is capable of sequentially driving up to six separate 125 kHz low-frequency antennas (i.e., coils) to provide a wake-up and initialization channel to the key fob. Superior EMC behavior 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.

With its superior diagnostics, 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 their authorized repair shops.

The ATA5279 is manufactured using Atmel’s own BCD-on-SOI (SMART-I.S.®) technology, which, amongst others, results in a very low power-down current consumption of 6 uA to 8 uA, thus minimizing 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 new antenna driver IC ATA5279 is, of course, fully protected against electrical and thermal overloads.

Outstanding EMC behavior, superior diagnostics and the ability to drive six separate low-frequency antennas make the ATA5279 an ideal fit for all LF 125-kHz-based Passive Entry Go (PEG) and Passive Go (PG) hands-free car access systems.

Availability and Pricing

Samples of the ATA5279 are now available in RoHS-compliant QFN48 packages measuring only 7 mm x 7 mm. Pricing starts at US $3.31 (for 10k piece quantities). To support the system designer, 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.

Footnote

ASIC = Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

BCD = Mixed technology: Bipolar CMOS DMOS

EMC = Electro Magnetic Capability

LF = Low Frequency

OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer

PEG =Passive Entry Go

PG = Passive Go

QFN = Quad Flat No leads

RoHS = Restriction of Hazardous Substances

SOI= Silicon on Insulator

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry’s broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets.