IN Brief:
- LX4580 targets high-reliability actuation in More Electric Aircraft and defence platforms.
- A 24-channel mixed-signal IC integrates sensor interfaces, dual high-speed SAR ADCs, and PWM drive outputs in one package.
- Evaluation hardware and reference designs support faster architecture decisions and early documentation for certification programmes.
Microchip has released the LX4580, a 24-channel mixed-signal IC designed to consolidate sensing, monitoring, and motor-control support functions commonly spread across multiple devices in high-reliability actuation systems. The device targets aviation and defence applications that are pushing toward higher levels of electrification and tighter integration, including More Electric Aircraft architectures, guided systems, drones, and launch platforms.
LX4580 is supplied in a 144-pin LQFP package and combines multiple sensor and interface blocks intended to simplify actuator electronics around deterministic timing and fault-aware monitoring. Microchip lists integrated functions including pressure sensing, temperature measurement, PWM motor drive outputs, current sensing, Hall-effect sensor inputs, dual LVDT/resolver interfaces, and dual high-speed SAR ADCs. The integration is designed to support synchronised data acquisition and aligned control loops, reducing the drift and latency penalties that can appear when sensing and conversion are partitioned across separate ICs.
Ronan Dillion, director of Microchip’s high-reliability and RF business unit, said: “The LX4580 brings together an exceptional level of functionality in a single device, allowing our customers to simplify designs that previously required multiple ICs.”
Redundancy is positioned as a foundational design choice rather than a bolt-on. Microchip is pitching the architecture for environments where fault tolerance, monitoring coverage, and predictable behaviour are required across operating extremes and under certification constraints. Consolidating functions that would otherwise span MCUs, ADCs, DACs, driver ICs, and regulators is also framed as a route to lower system weight and reduced wiring complexity — a persistent pressure point in aerospace platforms where harnessing and connectors can dominate maintenance and reliability budgets.
The integration profile also speaks to the practicalities of actuator subsystem design. LVDT and resolver interfaces remain common in aerospace position feedback, while Hall sensors and current measurement are standard in many modern motor topologies. Pairing these with high-speed conversion and PWM outputs in one device allows system architects to tighten the coupling between sensor capture, fault monitoring, and drive updates, particularly where multiple actuators need consistent phase alignment.
Microchip is supporting the rollout with development collateral aimed at early-stage evaluation and architectural proof points. The LX4580-EVB evaluation board and user guide are available, with a breakout module giving access to both SPI buses and internal functions for test and measurement work. A separate user guide demonstrates a linear actuator control system using Microchip’s SAMV71 MCU, with the MCU running the motor control loop and the LX4580 handling key sensor interfaces. The LX4580 is available in production quantities.
