Power Integrations Intros Third Generation Power ICs
Power Integrations has added TinySwitch-III, the third generation of the company's family of ICs for energy-efficient power supplies. TinySwitch-III is targeted for use in universal-input power supplies ranging from 3W to 28W. TinySwitch-III is well suited for use in a wide array of power supply applications, including DVD players, white goods, industrial controls, chargers for portable electronics, and standby power for PCs, servers and LCD TVs.
With its high level of integration and robust feature set, TinySwitch-III enables simple, flexible designs with far fewer components than competing discrete and integrated solutions. TinySwitch-III features a 700V MOSFET alongside low-voltage control circuitry on a monolithic IC. Other features include integrated auto-restart, input under-voltage and output over-voltage protection, hysteretic thermal shutdown, and frequency jittering to minimize EMI.
TinySwitch-III offers design flexibility through the use of selectable current limits, allowing the designer to choose any of three current limit values for each family member without any additional IC pins or external components. A key enhancement from previous generations of the TinySwitch line, this feature allows designers to optimize their power supplies for either maximum efficiency or greatest power output. Also, adjacent family members have matching available current limits, permitting the substitution of one TinySwitch-III family member for another without redesigning the transformer.
TinySwitch-III employs an on/off control scheme, which delivers virtually constant efficiency regardless of load. By contrast, pulse width modulation and self-oscillating designs exhibit diminishing efficiency as load decreases. Constant efficiency is a key advantage with respect to recent efficiency standards for external power supplies, which specify an average efficiency across a range of load levels. TinySwitch-III also enables easy compliance with the most stringent standards for standby and no-load energy use, consuming less than 150 mW of no-load power without the use of a bias winding on the transformer.
TinySwitch-III is available in lead-free, plastic through-hole DIP-8 and surface-mountable SMD-8 packages. Pricing in 1000-piece quantities for the TNY274PN, a 6W part in a DIP-8 package, is $0.79 each. The TNY280PN, a 28W part, is priced at $1.45 each. Small quantities of each type are available from factory stock, with production quantities available 6 weeks ARO.
