This section provides an overview for high side drivers as well as their applications and principles. Also, please take a look at the list of 6 high side driver manufacturers and their company rankings. Here are the top-ranked high side driver companies as of November, 2024: 1.Microchip Technology Inc., 2.Renesas Electronics Corporation..
Table of Contents
A high-side driver is a circuit configuration used on electronic circuits to drive a switch element between a power supply and a load.
The switch element to be driven is called a high-side switch, and the high-side switch is controlled to turn the power supply on and off and to supply or disconnect current to the load. In contrast, a driver that drives the switch element placed between the load and ground is called a low-side driver.
To supply current to various loads, high-side drivers and low-side drivers have unique characteristics in their respective circuits.
High-side drivers are widely used in electronic circuits. Typically, they are used in inverters, power on/off circuits, LED drive drivers, and to drive inductance loads such as motors and solenoids.
High-side drivers are often used to supply large currents to loads, and must be designed with inrush current countermeasures and reverse current prevention circuits in mind. Since a switch element is inserted between the load and the power supply, it is possible to design the driver with consideration for operation in the event of a ground short circuit or other failure.
High-side drivers monitor the current flowing through the switch because the switch element to be driven is placed between the power supply and the load. A ground short can be detected, and the overcurrent caused by the short can be stopped by turning off the switch.
Low-side drivers can easily use N-channel MOSFETs because the voltage between the gate and source is ground referenced. Even if the voltage applied to the load is high, the voltage on the driver side does not depend on the voltage on the load side, and a low supply voltage is sufficient. The selection of elements can be aggressive even with low withstand voltage elements, and the configuration can be advantageous in terms of size and cost.
The disadvantage of high-side drivers and low-side drivers is that they cannot match the advantages of each other. High-side driver configurations are often larger and more expensive than low-side drivers. Low-side drivers are not as protected against short circuits, which is possible with high-side drivers.
*Including some distributors, etc.
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Incorporated in 1965, Analog Devices, Inc. designs, manufactures, tests, and markets integrated circuits (ICs), software, and subsystems that leverage analog, mixed-signal, and digital signal processing technologies. The company provides data converter products, power management and reference products for power conversion, driver monitoring, sequencing, and energy management applications in the automotive, communications, industrial, and high-end consumer markets. In addition, the company provides digital signal processing and system products for high-speed numeric calculations. It serves clients in the industrial, automotive, consumer, instrumentation, aerospace, and communications markets.
Microchip Technology Incorporated was incorporated in 1989 and is headquartered in Chandler, Arizona. The company is a developer and manufacturer of control solutions for global markets including the automotive, industrial, communications, human-machine interface, and connectivity industries. The company’s products include microcontrollers, field-programmable gate array products, MOSFET and radio frequency products, and both wired and wireless communications products. The company’s services include wafer foundry and assembly services, test subcontracting manufacturing services, development tools for enabling system designers to program microcontrollers and processors, and timing system products.
Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation is a division of Toshiba focusing on providing designs for end-product developers as well as semiconductor and drive equipment for automotive, industrial equipment, green energy, and consumer and personal electronic devices. Toshiba’s storage products include cloud-scale and enterprise-level products, and PC hard drives. Semiconductor products include Si Cower devices, MOSFETs, IGBTs, IEGTs, isolators, solid state relays, power management and intelligent power ICs, diodes, bipolar transistors, microcontrollers, automotive devices, ICs for wireless communication equipment, general purpose logic ICs, radio-frequency devices, sensors, and linear image sensors.
Renesas Electronics Corporation was established in 2002 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Renesas is a global research, design, and manufacturer of semiconductors used in industries spanning automotive, consumer electronics, the internet of things, power & energy, and industrial sectors. Renesas manufactures both analog and digital products. Analog products include amplifiers, audio & video devices, data converters, PLC, and switches & multiplexers. Digital products include microcontrollers, memory components, sensors, wireless connectivity products, and others. Renesas also offers design resources such as kits, development tools, partner programs, and design tools.
Texas Instruments Incorporated was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Texas Instruments is a producer of high tech equipment for industrial, automotive, personal electronics, communications equipment industries. Texas Instruments designs, manufactures, and sells semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers in the United States and internationally. Texas Instruments operates in two segments: analog and embedded processing. The Analog segment offers power products, including battery-management solutions, DC/DC switching regulators, power switches, linear regulators, voltage references, and lighting products. The Embedded Processing segment offers microcontrollers that are used in fields such as electronic equipment and digital signal processors for mathematical computations.
ST Micro Electronics is a global semiconductor company serving customers with innovations to have a positive impact on people's lives. Their product line is micro electronic systems, such as switches, controllers, sensors and drivers. The main selling point of ST Micro Electronics is its provision of sustainable products, and introducing their electronics to create a more sustainable world. The company, as well as providing the electronic devices, also provides software and support, ensuring that all fields are covered to provide a fully provide a supported and strong relationship with their customer base. ST Micro Electronics believe that technology plays a key role in helping to solve environmental and social challenges, which is why their semiconductor technologies start with their employees, their customers and partners.
Ranking as of November 2024
Derivation MethodRank | Company | Click Share |
---|---|---|
1 | Microchip Technology Inc. |
66.7%
|
2 | Renesas Electronics Corporation. |
33.3%
|
Derivation Method
The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the high side driver page as of November 2024. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.Number of Employees
Newly Established Company
Company with a History
*Including some distributors, etc.
*Including some distributors, etc.
Country | Number of Companies | Share (%) |
---|---|---|
United States of America | 2 | 50.0% |
Japan | 2 | 50.0% |