Inverter control microcontrollers improve performance of consumer appliances
The inverter control has been optimized by microcontrollers focused for inclusion in consumer appliances. The inverter, which is used to create or derive an AC signal or voltage from DC current, usually requires other power components that would ultimately drive an electric motor.
The microcontroller would then have the ability to control the speed of the motor. This has become extremely useful in appliances like air conditioners where its application is used to control the speed of the motor and respectively the pump can regulate the amount of cold air being produced and more accurately control the temperature, reducing both power consumption and noise. The same inverter control technology is utilized in refrigerators, washing machines, elevators and even motor-free products such as induction heating stoves and fluorescent lighting.
NEC Electronics has been providing inverter control microcontrollers in the household appliance industries as well as many others and as a result, they have a wide selection of microcontrollers suited to needs of many inverter control applications.
While all microcontrollers perform essentially the same function - receiving a digital or analog signal, computing based on programmed instruction set and then outputting a respective signal - additional integrated functions and signal conditioning can be honed to fulfill the needs on each individual inverter control application. Some examples of this include integrated analog to digital conversions, which provides feedback to control motors more accurately or TFT display control, which provides signals for visual output.
In more robust applications where 3-phase motor or inverter control is necessary yet there is a desire to have a high-resolution A/D conversion for precise control or an extra clock output signal for an encoder. These features and basic features such as timers, different communication interfaces and protection circuitry can be included in a one-chip solution providing simplicity in inverter control design. Depending on the complexity code, different memory sizes are available and programming options can ease implementation in small- and large-scale production. Partner companies can even provide pre-programmed chips.
As NEC Electronics has been designing semiconductor devices for over 30 years, providing a comprehensive knowledge base that spans many industries including over components meeting the rigid requirements of the automotive industry, their microcontroller products remain superior.
What's more is their extensive service and customer support on an individual basis is available to help designers from development through implementation and production, making NEC Electronics the obvious choice for inverter control microcontrollers.
