STMicroelectronics has expanded its family of advanced ultrasound transmitters by adding a 32-channel variant with high output current for portable applications. The new transmitter, STHVUP32, provides ±800mA intended for portable systems that require extra drive capacity for a coaxial cable-mounted probe.
Joining the portfolio alongside the 64-channel STHVUP64, the new 32-channel version contains similar features to increase performance and integration into next-generation, affordable, high-performance scanners for medical and industrial applications.
These include innovations to maximize image quality, integrated digital beam steering, space-saving driver architecture and low power consumption.
The STHVUP32 has 5-level output capability in addition to the common 3-level output, which increases flexibility to optimize image quality. Its high output current allows it to drive the scanner's piezoelectric transducer at high speed to enable multiple imaging modes. It also helps achieve a minimum pulse duration of 5 ns for superior image detail. The transmitter supports continuous wave and pulsed wave modes of operation to enable multiple types of analysis, including cavities and liquid flow.
Digital beam steering enhances directional control by enabling greater precision than conventional analog steering using delay circuits. By integrating beam steering logic, the transmitter can be used without a companion chip such as an FPGA. This saves PCB space and routing complexity, and bypasses FPGA design challenges.
Another new feature is that the transmitter has a self-biased driver architecture that prevents the connection of decoupling capacitors to the transmitter's power supply pins. This helps ensure a smaller circuit area as well as reducing the bill of materials (BOM). Additionally, the STHVUP32 is housed in a smaller package than comparable alternative ICs, thus helping designers create next-generation products in even smaller form factors.
Although it has extremely low power consumption, which is critical for battery-operated systems, the STHVUP32 is packed with rich features for a superior user experience. There is on-chip memory to store transmission patterns and synchronization is possible using a clock signal of up to 200 MHz to improve image quality by minimizing jitter. The IC also provides a communications port that supports various CMOS signaling standards.
Built-in protection includes noise blocking, thermal protection, undervoltage protection and current recirculation protection. There is also a diagnostic log that allows direct reading of the causes of interruptions to facilitate debugging in the event of a malfunction.