Hot Swap Controller with Onboard ADC Monitors Voltage, Reports Faults

Linear Technology Corporation introduces the LTC4215, a 2.9V to 15V Hot Swap™ controller that features an onboard 8-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and I²C compatible interface.

The integrated digital power monitoring allows sophisticated platform management in high-availability systems by measuring card voltages and currents, as well as recording past and present fault conditions. In such systems, careful monitoring of the health and integrity of the power distribution network is crucial. Information in the ADC registers can be queried via the I²C bus and then used to determine whether a card is actually using its allocated power or operating abnormally. An irregular card can be flagged for service even before it fails. The LTC4215 complements Linear Technology's LTC4260 and LTC4261, positive and negative 48V Hot Swap controllers that also feature onboard ADCs and I2C interfaces.

The LTC4215 turns the board supply voltage on and off in a controlled manner. It offers programmable dI/dt softstart and provides active current limiting that results in a controlled supply ramp. The inrush current and circuit breaker limits, as well as the undervoltage/overvoltage thresholds are independently adjustable, giving maximum flexibility and accuracy. The controller disconnects the load if it remains in current limit beyond the timeout delay and can be configured to latch off or auto-retry following the event.

The LTC4215 has additional features to interrupt the host when a fault has occurred, notify when output power is good, detect insertion of a board and turn off the pass transistor if an external supply monitor fails to indicate powergood within a timeout period.

Specified over the commercial and industrial temperature ranges, the LTC4215 is available from stock in 16-lead small shrink outline package (SSOP) and 24-lead 4mm x 5mm quad flat no-lead (QFN) packages. Pricing begins at $3.75 each in 1,000-piece quantities.

Linear Technology products include high performance amplifiers, comparators, voltage references, monolithic filters, linear regulators, dc-dc converters, battery chargers, data converters, communications interface circuits, radio frequency (RF) signal conditioning circuits, and many other analog functions. Applications for Linear Technology's high performance circuits include telecommunications, cellular telephones, networking products such as optical switches, notebook and desktop computers, computer peripherals, video/multimedia, industrial instrumentation, security monitoring devices, high-end consumer products such as digital cameras and MP3 players, complex medical devices, automotive electronics, factory automation, process control, and military and space systems.