AN78692 demonstrates how to quickly and easily develop a four-wire brushless DC fan control system using PSoC® 1. The Fan Controller User Module, available in PSoC Designer™, helps manage the fans in a variety of configurations. This application note also shows how to combine fan control and temperature sensing to create a complete thermal management solution using PSoC 1. This application note assumes familiarity with PSoC 1, the PSoC Designer integrated development environment (IDE), and C programming.
Introduction
System cooling is a critical component of any high-power electronic system. As circuits become smaller, the demands on system designers to improve the efficiency of system thermal management are increasing. System cooling fans must run at the optimum speed to ensure that the system temperature is always below a defined limit. To achieve this, the electronic system needs a temperature measurement unit and a closed-loop fan speed controller.