Greener PPMs
17 August 2010
Programmable single and dual integrated buck regulators support green standards.
Digital Summit Microelectronics has announced new programmable power manager (PPM) integrated circuits that will bring sophisticated digital power control and programmability to a wider range of high-volume consumer applications than previously available.
Summit’s SMB20X family supports advanced power management for green and EnergyStar applications, including digital LCD/LED televisions, cable/satellite/IP set-top boxes, and other multimedia, broadband and small-office-home-office (SoHo) communications equipment.
The new family members include the SMB207/207A/208/208A/209/209A single and dual output integrated DC-DC buck regulators. The SMB20X family combines Summit’s digital programmability with dense integration, ultra-compact size, and cost-effective bill-of-materials (BoM) necessary for mass-market consumer products.
With a serial digital interface and on-board non-volatile memory, the SMB20X family can be configured during development and re-programmed in system by host software. The result is a flexible, digitally controlled power supply design that is easily customisable without hardware design cycles or complex microcontroller-style GPIO-based control. The integration of advanced power control functions eliminates external components and cost, improves functionality and performance, and minimises development time.
The SMB20X family integrates a single or dual step-down DC-DC buck regulator with on-board high-side MOSFET supplying up to 1A+1A (SMB207), 2A+ 2A (SMB208) or 4A (SMB209) output currents. Input voltage range is +4.5V to +16V and output voltage range is +0.8V to +5.0V, accurate to 2.5% over load/line/temperature. Output voltage is programmable in either 100mV steps (SMB207/208/209) or ~10mV steps (SMB207A/208A/209A). Switching frequency is programmable to 500kHz or 1MHz with 180° phase interleave for SMB207/208. Light load efficiency is supported by automatic pulse-skipping operation. Integrated frequency compensation and feedback resistors minimise BoM count, cost and design effort.
Output enable, sequencing, soft-start and output voltage (UV) monitoring are all programmable as well. Output voltage monitoring is coupled to PowerGood or RESET signals with programmable output assignment and output channels can be enabled via the serial I2C interface or by the ENABLE pins. Nominal output voltages maybe changed once the system is powered up, enabling the latest SoC’s to reduce platform power using advanced voltage/clock scaling modes. The SMB20X A versions with the ~10mV fine step output voltage programming allow for easy voltage margining to support easy system validation and characterisation of these same advanced SoCs.
Tiny 3mm x 3mm QFN packaging and minimal external components yield an ultra-compact (typically <100mm2) size. Programmed configuration is held in the OTP non-volatile memory but may be changed in system by host software via the I2C port. The rated operating temperature range is -40°C to +85°C.
The SMB20X Family is suitable for a range of multimedia consumer and broadband/SoHo applications such as digital LCD/LED/plasma/IP televisions, digital cable/satellite/IP set-top boxes and media gateways, broadband cable/DSL modems, wireless SoHo routers and switches.
To speed user product development, Summit offers customers the SMB208EV companion evaluation board and a graphical user interface (GUI) software so that designers can quickly see the features and benefits and design a prototype intelligent power supply solution with the SMB20X. This is a complete development tool that allows designers to easily manipulate the characteristics of their systems. The SMB208EV design kit includes menu-driven Microsoft Windows GUI software to automate programming tasks and also includes all necessary hardware to interface to the USB port of a laptop or PC.
Once a user completes design and prototyping, the SMB208EV automatically generates a HEX data file that can be transmitted to Summit for review and approval. Summit then assigns a unique customer identification code to the HEX file and programs the customer’s production devices prior to final electrical test operations. This ensures that the device will operate properly in the end application.
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