
AVR430
11
8124C-AVR-10/08 
4.4 Back-EMF For sensorless applications, the driving logic u ses back EMF from the motor’s phases 
to ke ep track  of  the motor  position.  To  observe the  back  EMF  from a  phase,  the 
phase is left floating, i.e.  with the high or low side  MOS not powered, and the  voltage 
on the phase is read.  For motors with center tap, Vn  (V neutral) provides feedback to 
device board.  
4.4.1 Back-EMF feedback filters 
Each phase  (U/V/W/X) and  the center  tap (Vn)  are fed via  a filter/damping  block to 
the device board  interface. The block  for phase U is  shown in Figure 4-5.  The board 
is shipped with  a zero o hm resistor, so  it has no  damping/filter function. The  signals 
are named U’, V’, W’, X’ and Vn’ after going through the filter blocks. 
Vmotor (Vm)  is a lso fed  thru a  filter/damping  block, and  is available  on  the device 
board interface as Vm’.  
Figure 4-5. Filter/damping block for back-EMF feedback.