The main inductive position sensor providers are Melexis, Renesas, Microchip, TI, Onsemi and AMS. These companies typically offer two types of inductive position sensors:

  1. High-speed ICs (usually for rotary applications with SIN/COS output).
  2. Low-speed ICs (for linear or reduced range-of-motion applications with ANALOG/SENT/SPC/SPI/PWM outputs).

In this comparison we focus on high-speed IPS. The comparison parameters include PCB design requirements, programming, temperature range, accuracy, source voltage, maximum speed, operating frequency and block diagram.

Products

  • Melexis: high-speed MLX90510 (SIN/COS); low-speed MLX90513 (ANALOG/SENT/SPC/PWM).
  • Onsemi: low-speed NCV77320 (ANALOG/SENT/SPI).
  • Renesas: high-speed IPS2550 (SIN/COS); low-speed ZMID4200/5201/5202/5203 (SENT/PWM/ANALOG).
  • TI: high-speed LDC5072 (SIN/COS).
  • Microchip: high-speed LX34050 (SIN/COS); low-speed LX3301A/LX3302A (SENT/PWM/ANALOG).
  • AMS: high-speed AS5715R (SIN/COS).

PCB design concept

  • Three-phase concept (Melexis, Onsemi): better accuracy thanks to harmonic suppression with the third coil, but a more complex design requiring expert knowledge.
  • Two-phase concept (Renesas, TI, AMS, Microchip): simpler design (one coil for SIN, one for COS), but less accurate.

Temperature range

  • -40 to 160 C: AMS, Melexis, Renesas, TI.
  • -40 to 150 C: Microchip, Onsemi.

Source voltage

  • 5V and 3.3V: Renesas, TI, Onsemi.
  • 5V: Melexis, AMS, Microchip.

Maximum speed

  • Melexis: 240,000 electrical rpm
  • Onsemi: 10,800 electrical rpm
  • Renesas: 600,000 electrical rpm
  • TI: 480,000 electrical rpm
  • AMS: 480,000 electrical rpm
  • Microchip: data not available

Operating frequency

  • 2-5 MHz: Melexis, Onsemi, Renesas.
  • 2.4-5 MHz: TI.
  • AMS and Microchip: data not available.

Accuracy

  • Melexis, Renesas, AMS: below 0.36 deg
  • TI: below 1 deg
  • Onsemi, Microchip: data not given

Propagation delay

  • Melexis: 0 ± 12 ns (compensated)
  • Renesas: 4 us
  • TI: 4.6 us
  • AMS, Microchip: data not available

Programming

  • I2C programming: Onsemi, AMS, Renesas (requires a special board connected to the IC, with LabVIEW code provided).
  • PTC-04: Melexis (requires a dedicated tool that simplifies programming).

Block diagrams

Melexis

Melexis inductive position sensor IC block diagram

Renesas

Renesas inductive position sensor IC block diagram

TI

TI inductive position sensor IC block diagram

AMS

AMS inductive position sensor IC block diagram

Onsemi: does not have a SIN/COS output. Microchip: datasheet not available.

All chips include input filters, demodulation, AGC gain and op-amplifier blocks. Melexis stands out by converting analog signals to digital with an ADC, enabling digital programming.