New Industry Products

IR Introduces TruePower Technology and Digital I²C Interface

October 12, 2008 by Jeff Shepard

International Rectifier, (IR)® introduced the IR3720 output power monitor IC with digital I²C interface for low-voltage dc-dc converters used in notebook, desktop computers, and energy-efficient server applications.

As a result of its patent-pending TruePower ™ technology, the IR3720 is said to achieve excellent current accuracy (0.2% typical error) over all input voltage and load ranges. The output current or voltage is communicated to the system controller through a digital I²C interface to provide highly effective power management.

"Competitive solutions that monitor voltage and current separately can cause measurement errors of more than 30% under dynamic conditions. However, by utilizing innovative TruePower technology to measure dynamic power at the output or load side of the voltage regulator, the IR3720 is an easy to implement solution that delivers a significant improvement in accuracy to maximize system performance." said Vijay Viswanathan, IR’s Product Marketing Engineer for Enterprise Power Products.

The new device monitors the output filter inductor current in buck or multiphase converters from 0.5 to 1.8V and provides designers with the option of using resistive sensing or inductor DCR current sensing with an internal thermal compensation feature to achieve what the company describes as higher efficiency compared to existing solutions while reducing bill of materials and board size requirements.

Available in a 10-pin DFN lead-free package, pricing for the IR3720MTRPBF begins at US $1.20 each in 10,000-unit quantities.