New Industry Products

500mA & 800mA LDO Regulators for CMOS Sensors and Mobile Devices

March 20, 2019 by Scott McMahan

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation has launched two new series of small surface mount LDO regulators for applications in the power supplies of mobile devices, as well as CMOS sensors of imaging and audio-visual products.

Typical applications for the two series of LDO regulators include Mobile devices, image & audiovisual equipment, as well as power supplies for CMOS sensors, MCUs, and RF devices. Both series are also suited to applications that include power supplies for MCUs and RF devices. Both can also be utilized for camera CMOS sensors in mobile devices or imaging and audio-visual equipment, which increasingly employ lower voltages around 1V.

The 40 regulators in the TCR5BM series support a dropout voltage as low as 100mV and a maximum output current of 500mA, and 40 more in the TCR8BM series extend support to 170mV and 800mA. The TCR5BM and TCR8BM series are both available with Vout as low as 0.8V, or as high as 3.6V.

With the use of a low on-resistance N-channel MOSFET fabricated using the latest generation process and featuring external bias voltage, both series have been able to cut dropout voltage, a cause of power loss, to about 67% that of Toshiba's previous products, which Toshiba claims to be the lowest in the industry.

In addition, with a 98dB (typ.) ripple rejection ratio, the new products deliver stable operation resistant to high-frequency noise from the external environment and dc-dc converters, both causes of malfunction. They also deliver a fast load transient response that prevents malfunctioning due to swift switching of IC operation modes.

Toshibas says that their quiescent current is about 50% lower than other high current LDO regulators in the market, realizing lower device power consumption and longer operating times for battery-driven devices.

Both series come in the small surface mount 1.2mm x 1.2mm DFN5B package. (See image below). The TCR5BM series supports up to 500mA and the TCR8BM series supports up to 800mA. A differentiating feature of both series is the use of a secondary bias rail as a reference voltage that allows an ultra-low dropout of 100mV (Typ.) at Iout = 500mA (1.1Vout, Vbias=3.3V).

As small ceramic input and output capacitors can be used with the TCR5BM and TCR8BM series, these devices are suitable for portable applications that require high-density board assembly such as cell phones.

Mass production started progressively beginning in January 2019 and shipments began March 19.

Features of TCR8BM Series of LDO Regulators

  • Low dropout voltage
  • VDO=170mV (Typ.) at 1.1Vout , Vbias=3.3V , Iout=800mA
  • Low standby current ( IBIAS(off)=1µA (Max))
  • Low quiescent bias current ( IBIAS(on)=20 µA (Typ.) at Vbias=5.5V, Iout=0mA )
  • Wide range output voltage line up Vout=0.8V to 3.6V
  • Over-current protection
  • Thermal shutdown
  • Inrush current reduction Under-voltage lockout (TCR8BMxxA products)
  • Auto-discharge
  • Pull-down connection between CONTROL and GND
  • Ultra-small package DFN5B (1.2mm x 1.2mm ; t 0.38mm )

Features of TCR5BM Series of LDO Regulators

  • Low dropout voltage
  • VDO=100mV (Typ.) at 1.1V output, Vbias=3.3V, Iout=500mA
  • Low standby current (IBIAS(off)=1µA (Max))
  • Low quiescent bias current (IBIAS(on)=19µA (Typ.) at Vbias=5.3V, Iout=0 mA )
  • Wide range output voltage line up Vout=0.8V to 3.6V
  • Over-current protection
  • Thermal shutdown
  • Inrush current reduction
  • Under-voltage lockout (TCR5BMxxA products)
  • Auto-discharge
  • Pull-down connection between CONTROL and GND
  • Ultra-small package DFN5B (1.2mm x 1.2mm ; t 0.38mm)