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Extended Battery Life is the Mantra for Power Management Devices
Energy efficiency is everything
Design News Staff -- Design News, October 6, 2008
In power management, we're seeing a future that emphasizes high-energy efficiency. The challenge to Analog IC manufacturers is to satisfy the convergence of two large trends: the need to extend battery life in handheld devices and the overall pressure for energy efficiency. New Analog IC devices emphasize low power consumption and small size. The largest market for analog ICs is handheld devices. Although the handheld market is dominated by phones, new products such as entertainment devices and medical instrumentation will become more important in the future. Medical handhelds will proliferate as the medical instrumentation industry produces a greater number of products for home-based medical monitoring.
IC MAXIMIZES BATTERY RUN AND MINIMIZES HEAT
Linear Technologies Corp.'s LTC3567 is a compact multi-function power management solution for Li-Ion/Polymer battery applications. The LTC3567 was designed to integrate a switching PowerPath Manager, a stand-alone battery charger, a 1A high-efficiency synchronous buck-boost regulator, an ideal diode and controller, IC control, plus an always-on LDO in a compact, low-profile 4 x 4 mm QFN package. The LTC3567's PowerPath control feature was set up to manage power flow between multiple input sources such as a wall adapter or USB port and the Lithium battery, while preferentially providing power to the system load. In addition, its “instant-on” operation was created to ensure power to the system load even with a depleted battery. An internal 180 Milliohm ideal diode plus optional external ideal diode controller provide a low-loss power path from the battery to the system load which was designed to minimize heat generation while maximizing efficiency.
LOW-POWER INSTRUMENTATION AMPLIFIER FOR PORTABLE, PRECISION APPLICATIONS
Texas Instruments Inc.'s (TI) low-power zero-drift instrumentation amplifier is designed to improve accuracy while extending battery life. The INA333 features low quiescent current and low input bias current, as well as a low power-to-noise ratio, very low offset voltage/drift and 1.8V operation. All of these attributes were intended to improve accuracy and stability while extending battery life in a variety of precision, low-power applications such as portable medical, handheld instrumentation, weigh scales and data acquisition. The INA333 utilizes TI's zero-drift technology, which incorporates a switched-capacitor notch filter to eliminate chopping noise and provide very low input voltage noise of 50 nV/rt-Hz. The device features a versatile three op amp architecture to simplify design and reduce board space.
NEW AMPLIFIER REDUCES ERRORS
National Semiconductor Corp. has introduced three operational amplifiers with integrated electromagnetic interference (EMI) filters developed to maintain the accuracy of analog systems by reducing the effects of radio frequency interference. The LMV83x op amps were created to deliver a high EMI rejection ratio of 120 dB, thereby eliminating EMI-induced errors. They also feature 3 MHz unity gain bandwidth while operating on only 240 uA of supply current. This was intended to yield a power-to-performance ratio of 80 uA per megahertz, which places these devices among National's PowerWise family of energy-efficient products. The LMV83x family was also designed to reduce development time and board size by minimizing the need for metal shielding, filters and extra components. They are intended to be well-suited for use in phone accessories, medical instruments, precision weigh scales and other electronic equipment sensitive to electromagnetic disturbances in noisy environments.
STREAMLINED POWER SUPPLY DESIGN WITH SPACE-SAVING POWERS IC
Freescale Semiconductor's MC34700 power supply IC was designed for space-constrained, high-voltage and high-power applications. The MC34700 is a 9.0 to 18V quad-output integrated MOSFET device created to reduce the complexity and streamline the development of power supplies. The device is available in a 32-lead 5 x 5 mm QFN package, enabling the ability to generate up to four power rails in a small-footprint design. This capability is intended to reduce board space requirements over discrete designs. The wide input voltage range makes the device well-suited for applications with a nominal 12V supply. The device features ample operating margin in systems where the 12V supply is only 20 percent accurate. Target applications include set-top boxes, cable modems, laser printers, fax machines, point-of-sale terminals, small appliances, telecom line cards and DVD players.
TRANSCEIVER DELIVERS SMALL FOOTPRINT FOR HVAC, INDUSTRIAL AND MEDICAL APPLICATIONS
Analog Devices Inc. has introduced a fully isolated, single-package surface mount RS-232 transceiver with integrated dc-to-dc converter to supply isolated power. The ADM3251E transceiver features a very small form factor surface mount technology (SMT) package that integrates a line driver, line receiver, oscillator, rectifier, regulator, voltage doubler, voltage inverter and transformers into a single-chip solution designed to isolate both the data and power lines on a chip. The transceiver's SMT package allows system manufacturers to mount the device using fully automated production tools, which is intended to reduce manufacturing steps and improve mechanical performance. The smaller footprint was additionally created to free up circuit board space for other system functions. The highly integrated device was designed to provide a robust serial communications interface with isolated power for use in harsh HVAC, industrial and medical applications.
CLOCK BUFFERS DESIGNED TO SAVE POWER, SIZE, COST AND COMPLEXITY
STMicroelectronics has announced the first devices in a new series of clock-distribution ICs designed to provide per-channel output-enabled controls for precision clock management in embedded and handheld applications. The two-channel STCD1020, three-channel STCD1030 and the four-channel STCD1040 were created to save component count, board complexity and bill-of-materials costs in multi-mode devices such as cellular handsets and machine-to-machine communications. By distributing a single master clock to multiple clock domains, designers can eliminate multiple individual crystal clock sources for chipsets supporting GSM, Bluetooth, WLAN, WiMAX or other RF communications. With fewer crystal components, these applications will also benefit from greater physical ruggedness. These ICs were also designed in small TDFN packages for space savings. The STCD 1020 comes in a 2 x 2 mm 8-lead package. The STCD1030 comes in a 2 x 2.5 mm 10-lead package and the STCD1040 comes in a 2 x 3 mm 12-lead package.
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