Allegro Single-Chip Power Monitoring Solution Reduces Board Space and Optimizes Energy Efficiency

     Allegro's ACS37800 is another industry-leading innovation. This Hall-effect power monitoring solution that takes up very little PCB space can be used for single-phase AC and DC. The highly integrated power monitoring chip is packaged in a small SOIC16W and can simultaneously detect Power, voltage, and current for AC and DC signals, with isolation ratings up to 1480 Vpk, helping the overall solution reduce size, cost and complexity.

     By integrating more functions, the ACS37800 eliminates many of the components required by competing solutions under the same conditions, thereby further reducing PCB size and significantly reducing bill of materials (BOM) cost and complexity. For example, the ACS37800 has 517 Vrms of reinforced isolation and can independently implement current sensing without the need for components such as expensive opto-isolators, Rogowski coils, oversized current transformers, isolation op amps, or shunt resistors.

     With an integrated voltage regulator, the ACS37800 can be powered from the same voltage (5V or 3.3V) as the system microprocessor. The ACS37800 simplifies common power triangulation measurements by calculating active, reactive and apparent power, as well as instantaneous and RMS values of current, voltage or power. In addition, the ACS37800 is capable of averaging multiple instantaneous measurements within a minute of these parameters, avoiding inaccuracies when waveforms are asymmetric. These capabilities help reduce the reliance on microcontroller (MCU) resources for critical computing.

     The flexibility and configurability of the ACS37800 allows users to program it to meet the needs of a variety of unique applications. For example, based on user requirements for low noise or multiple addresses, designers can choose devices that are factory-set with an I2C or SPI interface. In I2C mode, the ACS37800 provides zero-crossing detection, which makes LED dimming control easier. Undervoltage/overvoltage, current/voltage gain and offset, and overcurrent trip point thresholds can be programmed by the user through EEPROM, enabling ±30A～± 180A system is optimized.

      Combined with the high sensitivity and offset of Allegro's factory programming, and extensive user programmability, designers are able to achieve the best balance of time-to-market and product customization in increasingly competitive green energy-efficient applications including:

● Smart lighting

● Smart appliances and smart plugs

● Industrial Motor Control

● Server and Telecom Power Supplies