Intersil Releases Controller that Supports Three Major Power Functions in Notebook Computing
Intersil Corp. introduced the ISL6236, a high-efficiency, multi-function quad output controller. This device reduces engineering resources by allowing designers to qualify one part for all three power functions within the architecture of a notebook computer. The company claims that this device is the industry's only power supply controller that provides designers the flexibility to externally program the switchers and the LDO to different voltages to support either 3.3 to 5V system regulation, DDR (double data rate) memory or graphics processing.
"The ability to externally program the switchers and LDO allows for greater design flexibility," said Majid Kafi, Director of Intersil's Notebook Power Products Group. "The ability to use one chip for all three power functions will save engineering time and costs associated with qualifying parts."
The ISL6236, with a wide input voltage range from 5.5 to 25V, utilizes a constant on-time topology that eliminates the need for compensation, minimizing external components and offering fast transient response. Other features include pulse skip mode and ultrasonic pulse skip mode which provide high light-load efficiency and extended battery life. Ultrasonic pulse-skipping maintains the switching frequency above 25kHz to eliminate noise in audio applications.
Intersil's ISL6236 dual step-down switch-mode power supply (SMPS) controller generates logic supply voltages in battery-powered systems. This device includes two adjustable PWM (pulse width modulation) controllers that can be configured to two fixed-output combinations: 5/3.3V or 1.5/1.05V. The output of SMPS1 can also be adjusted from 0.7 to 5.5V, while the SMPS2 output can be adjusted from 0.5 to 2.5V by setting the REFIN2 voltage. LDO output is either fixed 3.3/5.0V or adjustable from 0.7 to 4.5V. The fourth output of this quad controller is the voltage reference which can either be 3.3 or 2.0V. A constant on-time PWM control scheme operates without sense resistors and provides 100ns response to load transients while maintaining a relatively constant switching frequency. The ISL6236 includes on-board power-up sequencing, power good (POK) outputs, digital soft start and internal soft stop output discharge that prevents negative voltages on shutdown.
The ISL6236 is available now in a 32-lead Thin QFN package and is priced at $2.85 in 1,000-unit quantities.
