
Si9993CS
Vishay Siliconix
S-60752–Rev. A, 05-Apr-99
12
FaxBack 408-970-5600, request 70653
www.siliconix.com
REG5 (Spindle Command) to “00” state. Individual motor
shutdown operation is also possible through the serial port.
Refer to Table 2 for a complete description.
Immediately after detection of the undervoltage condition, all
spindle drivers are turned off while the VCM’s low-side drivers
are turned on to stop the head from any previous movement.
Additionally, all command resistors, except REG1, are reset.
After a time delay, programmed by D5/D4 of REG1, the VCM’s
retract circuitry is turned on. The spindle drivers remained off.
The head is retracted toward the inside diameter of the disk,
or (VCM+ - VCM-) is positive. The voltage clamp across the
VCM, or the maximum head velocity, is limited by the stored
value in D7/D6 of REG1. No programmable current clamp is
available on Si9993CS. The minimum short-circuited VCM
retract current is 120 mA. Refer to Figure 3 for a simplified
schematic. 
The head retract time interval, or spindle brake delay time, is
programmed via bit D3/D2 of REG1. After the time-out, the
VCM drivers are turned off (tri-state) and all bits of REG1
except D1/D0 are reset. The state of the spindle motor
low-side drivers are determined by D1/D0) of REG1.
Depending on the motor and the number of disk platters, a
spindle brake at high speed (BEMF voltage of 6 V or higher)
may result in a high amount of energy dissipation in the
LITTLE FOOT drivers. One solution to this problem is to use a
ultra-low r
DS(on)
 LITTLE FOOT device, such as Si4544, should
the dissipation limit of the Si9942 be exceeded. In which case,
D1/D0 or REG1 should be programmed for immediate brake.
A lower cost solution, when feasible, is to allow the motor to
spin down to a lower rpm before the low-side drivers are
turned on to brake the motor. In such case, the motor speed
threshold, which is sensed by measuring the motor BEMF via
V
CLAMP
 voltage, is programmed using D1/D0 of REG1.
(Figure 4 shows a 3-V threshold being selected.) Also, as
shown in Figure 4, once the spindle brake is on, an external
pre-charged capacitor connected to the V
TEST
 pin will be
switched on to maintain the gate drive to the LITTLE FOOT
drivers, even if V
CLAMP
 drops down to zero. 
FIGURE 3.
 Simplified Retract Circuit
FIGURE 4.
 Simplified Spindle Brake Circuit