EL SEGUNDO, CA. January 1999 - International Rectifier (IR^®) now offers, for the first time in the industry, a single platform 600V and 1200V gate drive solution, with 1200V half-bridge and 3-phase gate driver ICs that offer pin-to-pin compatibility and functional equivalency for both the 600V and 1200V ratings.

Added value benefits include:

DESIGN TIME -- Gate drive design compatibility of 600V and 1200V ICs cuts design time by 50 percent. The same basic circuit design and layout are re-used by just substituting the equivalent ICs.

COMMON PLATFORM -- Gate drive designs for 115VAC, 230VAC and 460VAC inputs are common and standardized. This further reduces cross-platform design and support costs.

SIZE -- IR's HVIC gate drive solution typically cuts down on component counts and PCB size by >50 percent compared to discrete opto solutions.

PERFORMANCE -- IR's HVIC gate driver outputs are immune to voltage spikes and contribute to lower switching losses for the IGBTs and FETs.

IR's proprietary HVIC technology is ideal for designing products to drive FETs and IGBTs. Gate drive outputs are designed using a 20V latch-immune CMOS circuit. The 600V technology integrates a 20V driver with a 600V level shifter for high-side and low-side gate drivers in one monolithic IC. The 1200V technology, the industry's highest voltage rating for an IC, is now in full production and integrates a 20V driver with a 1200V level shifter for the same integrated architecture as 600V designs.

Targeting applications in AC drives up to 20HP and UPS and power supplies up to 10kW, IR offers a high output gate drive current, up to 2A, and latch-immune single platform half-bridges and dual gate drivers.

The 500V IR2110 and 600V IR2113 are the established industry standard half-bridge gate drivers. The new 1200V IR2213 is pin-to-pin and functionally equivalent to the 600V IR2113. IR also offers the new 20V IR1210 that integrates dual low-side gate drivers that feature the same rugged gate drive output as the IR2113.

Targeting applications in the micro-inverter type of AC drives up to 5HP, IR now offers the highly integrated 3-phase single platform gate drive solution. The 600V IR2130 and IR2132 are the established industry standard 3-phase gate drivers. The 1200V IR2233 offers improved latch immunity and performance. It is pin-to-pin and functionally equivalent to the 600V IR2133, the established industry standard 3-phase gate drivers. Gate drive designs using the new combo cut component counts and PCB space by more than 50 percent.

Reference Design Kits are available for demonstrating the gate drive designs using IR2132, IR2133 (IRMDAC2) and IR2233 (IRMDAC3).