I need a layman's explanation of how a motor controller chip like Infineon's IRMCF143 works in a very general way.
It is supposed to be "Codeless" controller which means it has the motion control engine with all the necessary algorithm for controlling (commutation) a permanent magnet DC motor.
They have configuration and commissioning software and development kits and all that jazz but I don't get how one would connect to one of those!
I thought I would have a board with the communication port on it and a socket to plug-in the chips to configure then remove them and use them on the project board.
Is it supposed to be used in a project that includes a communication port of some sort so that after it is all soldered to the board then I connect to it and configure and commission with the provided software?
The way I see it, that chip is a 8051 microcontroller combined with the motor control engine that runs the motion algorithms. All I guess you need to do is to program the 8051 to do what ever task you want, based on what comes through the various IO pins, UART, I2C, etc.
I´d say that if they provide evaluation boards, they also show the setup and provide you with some example code.