Linear Technology Corp. (LTC, Milpitas, CA) introduced the LTC1980, a switching regulator battery charger that combines both battery charging and system power supply functions into a small, 24-lead SSOP. The LTC1980 operates from a regulated or unregulated input-supply voltage, which can be above or below the battery voltage by automatically performing step-up or step-down dc/dc conversion. The LTC1980 is not only a stand-alone, single-cell and dual-cell, lithium-ion battery charger, but it also charges nickel-cadmium, nickel-metal hydride and lead-acid batteries.
The LTC1980 is suitable for industrial hand-held computers, memory backup boards, RAID systems, servers, uninterrupted power supplies, medical equipment and charging cradles. The device uses a current-mode flyback topology for high efficiency, transient response and design simplicity. It shares the discrete components for both the battery charger and the dc/dc converter. The IC also incorporates automatic battery recharging, shorted-cell detection, C/10 and wall-plug detect outputs.
Pricing starts at $3.75 each in 1,000-piece quantities.
