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Avago HCNR200
Avago HCNR200
Abstract Introduction
This note covers operation and applications of the The HCNR200/201 high-linearity analog optocoupler
HCNR200 and HCNR201 high-linearity analog optocou- consists of a high-performance AlGaAs LED that illumi-
plers. Internal operation and the servo control mechanism nates two closely matched photodiodes PD1 and PD2,
of the optocouplers are described in detail. A couple of as shown in Figure 1. The input photodiode PD1 can be
application examples are presented, ranging from motor used to monitor, and therefore stabilize, the light output
control current sensing to traditional current loop com- of the LED. As a result, the nonlinearity and drift charac-
munication in process control. The evaluation board for teristics of the LED can be virtually eliminated. The output
these optocouplers is also introduced in this note. photodiode PD2 produces a photocurrent that is linearly
related to the light output of the LED. The close matching
of the photodiodes and advanced design of the package
1 NC 8 ensure the high linearity and stable gain characteristics
LED of the optocoupler [1]. The HCNR200/201 is available in a
400 mil Widebody DIP-8 package (see Figure 2) with Gull
2 NC 7
K2
Wing Surface Mount option. Table 1 shows the selection
K1 guide for HNCR200/201.
3 6
The HCNR200/201 can be used to isolate analog signals in
a wide variety of applications that require good stability,
PD1 PD2
4 5 linearity, bandwidth and low cost. The HCNR200/201 is
very flexible and, by appropriate design of the application
circuit, is capable of operating in many different modes,
Figure 1. Schematic of HCNR200 and HCNR201.
including: unipolar/ bipolar, ac/dc and inverting/non-
inverting. The HCNR200/201 is an excellent solution for
many analog isolation problems, among which a couple
of application examples are discussed here.
HV+
Q1 Q2 Q3
Gate Drive Gate Drive Gate Drive Analog
R1 Optocoupler Optocoupler Optocoupler Isolation
Block (B)
VIN- VIN+
Single- VIN+
Phase + Analog
or Isolation R3
MOTOR
Three- R2 Block (A) R4
Phase VIN-
AC Input Q4 Q5 Q6
Gate Drive Gate Drive Gate Drive VIN- VIN+ Temp/
Optocoupler Optocoupler Optocoupler Analog Position/
Isolation Back EMF
Block (B) Sensor
R5
HV- Analog VIN+
VIN- VIN+ Isolation
Analog Block (A)
Isolation VIN-
Block (A)
Theory of Operation
The operation [1, p. 15] of the circuit may not be immedi- Notice that IPD1 depends ONLY on the input voltage and
ately obvious just from inspecting Figure 4A, particularly the value of R1 and is independent of the light output
the input part of the circuit. The op-amp always tries to characteristics of the LED. As the light output of the LED
maintain the same inputs voltages at its two inputs in a changes with temperature, amplifier A1 adjusts IF to
linear feedback close loop connection. Thus, the input compensate and maintain a constant current in PD1. Also
side op-amp A1 always tries to place zero volts across notice that IPD1 is exactly proportional to VIN+, giving a
the photodiode PD1. Now, if some positive voltage VIN+ very linear relationship between the input voltage and
is applied at the input, the op-amp output would tend to the photodiode current. The relationship between the
swing to the negative rail causing the LED current to flow. input optical power and the output current of a photodi-
This VIN+ will cause a current flowing through R1, and the ode is very linear. Therefore, by stabilizing and linearizing
LED light output will be detected by PD1 and generates IPD1, the light output of the LED is also stabilized and lin-
and a current IPD1 flowing from the “+” terminal to GND1. earized. And since light from the LED falls on both of the
Assuming that A1 is a perfect op-amp, no current flows photodiodes, IPD2 will be stabilized as well.
into the inputs of A1; therefore, all of the current flowing
Since PD1 and PD2 are identical to each other, IPD2 shall
through R1 will flow through PD1. Since the “+” input of
be equal to IPD1 ideally, while being varied a coefficient
A1 is at 0 V, the current through R1, and therefore IPD1 as
K3 in reality. So we have
well, is equal to VIN+/R1, or
IPD2 = K3 x IPD1,
IPD1 = VIN+/R1.
VCC1
R2 100k
1
VCC2
8
8
2 6 2
VCC1 3 - 1
4
3
+ A2 ANALOG OUTPUT VOUT
GND1
GND1
ANALOG INPUT VIN- PD1
4
4 PD2 5
HCNR200/201
GND1 GND2
(A) Unipolar input circuit
VCC1 VCC1 VCC2
R2 100k
IOS1 IOS2
1
VCC2
8
2 6 2
VCC1 3 - 1
4
3
+ A2 ANALOG OUTPUT VOUT
GND1
GND1
ANALOG INPUT VIN- PD1
4
4 PD2 5
HCNR
GND1 GND2
(B) Bipolar input circuit
Figure 4. Simplified schematic of the Analog Isolation Block for (A) unipolar input, and (B) bipolar input.
where K3 is the transfer gain defined in the data sheet (K3 Current Loop Communication Application
= IPD2/IPD1 = 1). Amplifier A2 and resistor R2 form a trans-
resistance amplifier that converts IPD2 back into a voltage, In the process control industry, current loops have
VOUT, where become the standard method for sensor signal transmis-
sion [4]. This method is especially useful for long distance
VOUT = IPD2 x R2. transmission (up to 10 km). Current loop is a very flexible
Combining the above three equations yields an overall ex- communication interface. There are a couple of types of
pression relating the output voltage to the input voltage, current loops: analog (linear current represents analog
signal), logic (high and low logic levels represent MARK
VOUT/VIN+ = K3 x (R2/R1). and SPACE states), and combined analog and digital
Therefore the relationship between VIN+ and VOUT is current loop that uses HART® (Highway Addressable
constant, linear, and independent of the light output Remote Transducer) communication protocol. Comparing
characteristics of the LED. The gain of the Analog Isolation to voltage signals, current loops have the following
Block circuit can be adjusted simply by adjusting the ratio benefits:
of R2 to R1.
• Insensitive to noise and are immune to errors from line
Figure 4A is in a unipolar configuration that accommo- impedance
dates only positive voltage input. Figure 4B is configured • Long-distance transmission without amplitude loss
to accommodate bipolar input (a signal that swings both
positive and negative). Two current sources, IOS1 and IOS2, • Inexpensive 2-wire cables
are added to offset the signal so that it appears to be • Lower EMI sensitivity
unipolar to the optocoupler. Current source IOS1 provides • Detection of offline sensors, broken transmission lines,
enough offset to ensure that IPD1 is always positive. The and other failures
second current source, IOS2, provides and an offset to
obtain a net circuit offset voltage of a desired value (e.g., Adding insulation to the 4-20mA current loop is
a 0 V may be desired if both positive and negative power important to protect system electronics from electrical
supplies are used, whereas a midway voltage could be noise and transients, which commonly present in the in-
more appropriate for the case of single positive power dustrial process-monitoring applications. The insulation
supply circuit). Current sources IOS1 and IOS2 can be im- barrier allows transducers to be galvanically separated by
plemented as simply as resistors connected to suitable hundreds or even thousands of volts. The HCNR200 and
voltage sources. A note is that the offset performance is HCNR201 offer the highest level of safety and regulatory
dependent on the matching of IOS1 and IOS2 and is also performance available today, which make them suitable
dependent on the gain of the optocoupler. for these applications. The Widebody package has 400
mil lead spacing to satisfy demanding external creepage
Isolation Amplifiers for Current Sensing and Voltage and clearance requirements. The UL/CSA Viso withstand
Monitoring voltage rating is 5000 Vrms (1 minute), and the IEC/EN/
DIN EN 60747-5-2 working voltage specification is 1414
Besides the HCNR200 and HCNR201, Avago Technologies Vpeak. The construction has 1 mm of internal clearance
provides a range of Miniature Isolation Amplifiers and (through insulation distance) and 10 mm of external
Isolated A/D converter for direct interface with an MCU creepage, and 9.6 mm of external clearance. These
or digital signal processing (DSP), to serve the purpose devices are suitable for not only applications that require
of current sensing and voltage monitoring. This kind reinforced insulation but also failsafe design thanks to
of sophisticated analog optoisolators are increasingly its construction nature. In addition to HCNR200/201,
replacing Hall-Effect sensors to measure and monitor the HCPL-4100 and HCPL-4200 optically coupled 20 mA
those feedback parameters such as AC phase currents, current loop transmitter and receiver, respectively, are
DC rail/bus currents, DC bus voltages and temperature. also offered for system using the 20 mA logic current
Some key advantages of using Isolation Amplifiers and loop [5, 6].
Isolated A/D converters are [2, 3]: An example block diagram of a 4-20 mA analog current
• High reliability and long life loop transmitter and receiver is shown in Figure 5 and 6
[1, Figure 21, 22], respectively.
• Variable speed/frequency control capability
• Small package size and footprint area
• Low power dissipation
• Low cost
• Safe optical isolation (galvanic isolation)
• Regulatory and safety agency approvals
VCC + LOOP
Sensor
HCNR200
_LED
Sensor signal R1 R2
conditioning – –
Q1
circuit + +
LM158 Z1 LM158 HCNR2 00
HCNR200 _PD2
_PD1
R3 – LOOP
GND1
Optical Isolation
Loop R2
Supply
HCNR200 Z1
R1 Host
– _LED –
(e.g., PLC
HCNR200 + + controller, MCU)
_PD1 HCNR200
LM158 LM158
_PD2
R3 GND2
Optical Isolation
The Evaluation Board
The HCNR201/200 evaluation board is to help designer Refer to the Theory of Operation section to see how this
quickly evaluate these high-linearity analog optocouplers. circuit works in details. This evaluation board is imme-
Figures 7 and 8 show the schematic of this evalua- diately suitable for motor control applications such as
tion board and its picture, respectively. Besides the current sensing, voltage monitoring, temperature and
HCNR201/200, this evaluation board also consists of two positioning feedback.
op-amps, at the input side and output side respectively.
D1
1N4148
2 1
VR1
P2 VRES1
C5
P1 10pF
B1 -15V TP-A C6
50ohm TP-A U2
R5 10pF
U1B CNR200
4
1 R1 6 2 100K
-
7 GND1 IPD2
100K 1% P4
1% 5 IF VCC2
+
MC34072D R4 1 TP-A B2
R2 3 6 50ohm
8
1K
2
50R PD 1 PD 2 6- U3B
+15V IPD1 7 R6 1
4 5 5+ 0R
U1A MC33502D
GND1 3+ MC34072D
P3
4
1
2
TP-A 2 -
R3 GND2 P5 R70R
TP-A 2
0R - 1
3
J1 +15V +
U3A
VCC1 (+15V) 1 MC33502D VCC2
C1 C2
100nF 10uF
GND1 2 J2
GND1 3 C7 C8 1 VCC2 (+3 to +5V)
C3 C4 GND1 10uF 2 GND2
VEE1 (-15V) 4 M1 M2 M3 M4 100nF
-15V 100nF 10uF CON2
HEADER 4 MTH MTH MTH MTH
GND2
Linear Input Range
Thanks to the superior performance and the design flex- pler’s linear response range specified in its data sheet.
ibility of the HCNR200/201, these devices are seeing For example, on the HCNR200 and HCNR201 data sheet,
more and more applications. This has attracted the intro- it is specified that the HCNR200’s “DC NonLinearity (Best
duction of some similar products into the market. Some Fit)” has a typical value of 0.01% and a maximum value
products consist of LED and PIN photodiodes, while some of 0.25% under “Test Conditions” of “5 nA < IPD < 50 µA,
other products come with LED and photo-transistors. All 0 V < VPD < 15 V” [1, p. 7]. Test conditions of photodetec-
of them appear in the similar elements arrangement to tor current or worked-out photodetector current (when
utilize the servo-feedback advantages for better linearity LED current is specified) in respective data sheet are used
performance. Thanks to the inherent high LED-to-photo- to calculate LIR of the circuit.
diode linearity, the close matching of the photodiodes
Assumption of application circuit topology has to be
and advanced design of the package, the HCNR200 and
made to reach a comparison of LIR for various linear
HCNR201’s high linearity and stable gain characteristics
analog optocouplers from different vendors. In this case,
are ensured. This superior performance has made them
the application circuit shown in Figure 4A has bee used
standing out from their peers.
to calculate the LIR of input voltage. From the com-
In addition to the differentiation of the linearity perfor- parison chart shown in Figure 9, it can be seen that the
mance, one more point worth of consideration during HCNR200/201 has a much wider linear response range,
component selection is the circuit’s linear input range which means a circuit applying HCNR200/201 enjoys a
(LIR). A circuit’s LIR determines the input signal dynamic much wider linear input voltage range than its counter-
range that can enjoy the linearity claimed on the sheet, parts (60dB wider than that of Comp A, and 66dB wider
which is in turn determined by a particular optocou- than that of Comp B).
10
LIR for Comp B
1
Photodetector Current - IPD1 (uA)
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000
Input Signal Voltage - VIN+ (mV)
Summary References
In a typical application, an external feedback amplifier can [1] “HCNR200/201 High-Linearity Analog Optocouplers
be used with PD1 to monitor the light output of the LED Data Sheet,” Avago Technologies, Publication No.
and automatically adjust the LED current to compensate 5989-2137EN, p. 1, February 28, 2006.
for any non-linearities or changes in light output of the [2] “Optocouplers for Variable Speed Motor Control
LED. The feedback amplifier acts to stabilize and linearize Electronics in Consumer Home Appliances,” Jamshed
the light output of the LED. The output photodiode then N. Khan, Avago Technologies, White Paper, Publication
converts the stable, linear light output of the LED into a No. 5989-1059EN, May 12, 2004.
current, which can then be converted back into a voltage
[3] “Overview of High Performance Analog Opto-
by another amplifier. By appropriate design of the appli-
cation circuit, these well-established and versatile analog couplers,” Avago Technologies, Application Note 1357,
optocouplers are capable of operating in many different Publication No. 5989-0804EN, April 9, 2006.
modes to meet various analog isolation needs. [4] “Understanding the Power of HART Communication,”
Ron Helson, HART Communication Foundation, March
2003.
[5] “Optically Coupled 20 mA Current Loop Transmitter
Technical Data,” Avago Technologies, Publication No.
5989-2099EN, December 28, 2004.
[6] “Optically Coupled 20 mA Current Loop Receiver
Technical Data,” Avago Technologies, Publication No.
5989-2100EN, December 28, 2004.
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Data subject to change. Copyright © 2005-2008 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.
AV02-1333EN - November 11, 2008