How to Run an HDD Spindle Motor

Quietly and Efficiently

Bert White
Corporate Fellow
Silicon Systems
Storage Products Group

S T O R A G E

P R O D U C T S

Outline

Spindle Motor Basics

Electrical equivalent of a spindle motor
PWM
Transconductance loop
Acoustic Noise
How does a motor driver create it?
How can a motor driver minimize it?
32H6910 SPM Driver Section
32H6910 Measured Data
Summary

Electrical Equivalent of Spindle Motor

ia
PHA
R

- bemfa = nbemfa nrpm VRUN

L
ib

PHB
R

bemfb = nbemfb nrpm VRUN

CT

L
ic
+

PHC
R
torque = K

T (ianbemfa

bemfc = nbemfc nrpm VRUN

L
+ ionbemfb + icnbemfc)

Efficient Motor Driver

Motor current must be in phase with bemf

Peak motor current should occur when bemf is peak
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) should be used to minimize
driver power dissipation

6-State Winding Current and Torque

4.00

Torque, Current, bemf

bemf

total torque

winding
torque

0.00

winding
current

-4.00
0

60

120

180

240

300

360

Angle

Note: These ideal curves neglect the effect of winding inductance a significant omission!

PWM Drivers are Required for

Maximum Power Efficiency
VP

Ton = B T
OUT
Vout = B VP
Toff = (1 - B )T
GND

Typical PWM frequency (1/T) is 20-30 kHz

PWM Drivers are LOW IMPEDANCE!

Transconductance Loop

Current
Command

Voltage Shaping and PWM

+
A1
-

VIMAG
VP

PHA
SPM
Motor

PHB
PHC

Current
Sense
Resistor

The transconductance loop permits current control with voltage mode drivers

Transconductance Loop Advantages

Permits supply current control during motor start

Simplifies the speed control equations
Reduces torque ripple caused by phase to phase resistance
variations

Jerk Causes Acoustic Noise

Jerk is defined as d/dt of acceleration

Jerk excites noise-generating mechanical resonances
Jerk is minimized by minimizing torque ripple
Per-phase torque ripple is essential but its slope should be
minimized

6-State Torque Ripple

Not a Pretty Sight!

Trapezoidal Torque Ripple

Only a Little Bit Better!

Sinusoidal Torque Ripple

A h h h!

Torque Ripple Summary

Waveform
Type
6-State
Trapezoidal
Sinusoidal

Torque Ripple
37%
32%
9%

Peak d/dt of phase A

torque
6 va/ms
3.9 va/ms
1.4 va/ms

Sinusoidal drive reduces torque ripple 4x

Per-Phase Torque has 4x less d/dt slope

32H6910 SPM Driver Section

2.5 A DMOS
PHASE
DRIVERS
SINEWAVE GENERATOR
VMAG

V12

VA

PWM
Modulator

A sin (60 Fvco t)

VB

PWM
Modulator

A sin (60 Fvco t - 120)

PGADJ

UPA

DRIVER

V12

UPB

VC

PWM
Modulator

V12

UPC

DRIVER

These sinusoids are 60x lower

Frequency than VCO

Modulation
Frequency
RSNS

3
SIGN(IA)

PHASE
DETECTOR
VCO

IB
PHB

PHA

PHB

IC
PHC
PHC
CT

PLLSTATE

VCO

IA
PHA

DRIVER

3
A sin (60 Fvco t - 240)

SPINDLE
MOTOR

SIGN(IB)

Adjust VCO phase and

frequency so IA, IB, and IC
change polarity in the center
of a PLLSTATE

SIGN(IC)
CT

VMAG
TRANSCONDUCTANCE
AMPLIFIER

PLL
LOOP
FILTER

VMAG

VMAG
LOOP
FILTER

Gm +

SPMDAC
8

SPM_DAC[7:0]
(From Serial Port)

8 bit
DAC

ISNS

Phase Detector Operation

The Phase Detector compares the phase currents zero crossing with
the center of its corresponding PLLSTATE window.

Phase Detector Waveforms

Phase Voltage, referenced to Center Tap

These bemf voltages . . .

6.00
Drive Voltage

PLLSTATE

0.00

bemf Voltages
5 degrees lag
properly phased
5 degrees lead

-6.00
0

60

120
Angle

180

Phase Detector Waveforms (cont.)

. . . generate these phase currents . . .
1.00

Phase Current

PLLSTATE

bemf leads by 5 degrees

bemf properly phased
bemf lags by 5 degrees

0.00

-1.00
0

60

120
Angle

180

Phase Detector Waveforms (cont.)

. . . and result in these charge pump currents.
100

PLLSTATE

Speed up VCO

Pump Current, uA

bemf leads by 5 degrees

bemf properly phased
bemf lags by 5 degrees
0

Slow down VCO

-100

60

120
Angle

180

32H6910 Lab Data

Phase Current

0.5A

32H6910 Lab Data (cont.)

Acoustic Noise (A-weighted)

6-State

3.8 dB rms reduction, 30 kHz to 20 kHz

10-20 dB pure-tone reduction

Sinusoidal

Conclusion
Driving an HDD motor quietly and efficiently requires:
PWM drivers
Sinusoidal Phase Currents
The 32H6910 implementation of PWM sinusoidal drive:
Reduces both measures of torque ripple by 4x
Reduces pure-tone acoustic noise by 10 to 20 dB
Reduces broad-band acoustic noise 3.8 dB