Micrel Offers New Quad Output Power Management IC

Micrel Inc. launched the MIC2811/21 – a flexible power management IC (PMIC) that provides four output voltages in a 3 x 3mm MLF®-16 lead package. This quad output device is suitable for providing voltages necessary for system core, I/O, auxiliary and external memory supplies such as SDRAM, NAND flash or Secure Digital (SDIO) found in today’s portable devices.

"The MIC2811 and MIC2821 offer the maximum flexibility needed to power portable devices using multimedia chips, DSPs or FPGAs, where battery life is of great importance," noted Andy Khayat, Micrel’s Director of Marketing for Portable Products. "By offering four output voltage rails in a single 3 x 3mm MLF® package with three independent input supplies, the MIC2811 and MIC2821 allow designers to optimize for size, efficiency and configurability."

The operating efficiency of the MIC2811/21 can be dramatically improved by supplying two of the LDO regulators from low voltage sources such as the output of the dc-dc converter. LDOs 1 and 2 operate from independent input supply down to 1.65V. This minimizes the voltage drop from input to popular output voltages such as 1.0 or 1.2V to increase efficiency. The dc-dc converter and the remaining LDO share the same input supply with an input range of 2.7 to 5.5V. The fixed 2MHz switching frequency of the dc-dc converter allows simple noise filtering in sensitive RF applications. Output current rating for the dc-dc is 600mA while the three LDOs each support up to 300mA. All four regulators have an output accuracy of +/- 3% over an operating junction temperature range of -40 to 125°C.

The MIC2811 supports an optional bypass capacitor to optimize noise and PSRR performance of LDO1 and LDO2 for noise sensitive applications. The MIC2821 offers independent enables for all four outputs to support advanced sequencing and control for system power state optimization.

The MIC2811/21 are currently available in volume quantities with pricing starting at $1.46 for 1K quantities.