New Industry Products

Power Integrations Announces TinySwitch-II Family of Switcher ICs

March 25, 2001 by Jeff Shepard

Power Integrations Inc. (San Jose, CA) announced the availability of its new generation of low-power off-line switcher ICs. The new family of devices, named TinySwitch-II, integrate a high-voltage power MOSFET, an oscillator and control circuitry onto a single CMOS chip. The family consists of eight part types ranging in power levels from 4 to 23W. These devices are suitable for applications including low-power adapters for portable equipment such as cellular phones, PDAs, digital cameras and external computer peripherals. They may also be used in power tools and standby power supplies found in PCs and audio/video equipment.

Features of the new family include auto-restart for short-circuit and open loop fault protection. The devices also have frequency jittering, current limit and thermal protection, as well as programmable line under-voltage detection and circuitry to eliminate audible transformer noise. Power Integrations also claims that the TinySwitch-II family features very tight tolerances with negligible temperature variation on key parameters. The family has an internal switching frequency of 132kHz.

“Utilizing TinySwitch-II devices enables manufacturers to easily and cost-effectively meet new energy guidelines for standby power as outlined in Europe's EC requirements and Energy Star in the US," stated Rich Fassler, vice president of marketing for Power Integrations. “It's estimated that ac adapters alone cost US customers around $500 million a year in wasted “no-load" energy which can be dramatically reduced by using our new ICs."

Pricing for the TinySwitch-II family in 1,000-piece quantities ranges from $0.74 each for the TNY264P, a 5.5W-part housed in a plastic 8-pin DIP, to $1.09 each, for the 23W-rated TNY268P, housed in a surface-mountable 8-pin SMD package. Sample quantities are available from stock with production quantities available three weeks ARO.