CHIBA, JA: SII Semiconductor Corporation, a semiconductor manufacturer in Seiko Instruments Group, releases the S-19680 Series high side switches with current monitor function that allow simplified connection diagnosis of GPS antennas and other automotive applications.

These IC’s are mainly used in LNA (low noise amplifier) phantom power for GPS antennas including ADAS locator, vehicular communication systems / road-vehicle communication systems, e-call, car navigation systems, car audio systems, and Infotainment systems.

GPS antennas are needed to be checked time to time for their connection status. Conventional circuits are complex in structure and the mounting arearequired for discrete components is large. The S-19680 is compact, designed to be robust, accurate and off-the-shelf solution to simplified diagnosis of antenna connection status with the added benefit of minimized board space.

The S-19680 Series receives the ON / OFF signal from the MCU (multipoint control unit) and controls the power supply to the antenna amplifier accordingly, while also allowing for load current monitoring. An alert signal output is available for detection of open or short-circuits status of the load current. This function allows for connection status even in light-load applications down to load open detection current of 2.5mA. Additionally, there is a load limit circuit that is user selectable between 40mA and 100mA in 10mA increments. Load short-circuit detection is based on the user selected limit current x 0.3 and limit current x 1.0 (selectable in 0.1 step). Load open detection is selectable between 2.5mA and 30mA in 2.5mA increments. The S-19680 Series offers a wide power supply voltage range of 2.7V to 10.0V, an ultra low operation current consumption of 12 μA typical.