Summit Micro Releases PPM Integrated Circuits for Digital Power Control
Summit Microelectronics has announced new programmable power manager (PPM) integrated circuits that the company says will bring sophisticated digital power control and programmability to a much wider range of high-volume consumer applications than previously available. Summit’s new SMB20X family supports advanced power management for "green" and EnergyStar® applications, including digital LCD/LED televisions, cable/satellite/IP set-top boxes, and other multimedia, broadband and small-office-home-office (SoHo) communications equipment.
The new family members include the SMB207/207A/208/208A/209/209A single- and dual-output integrated dc-dc buck regulators. The SMB20X family combines Summit’s digital programmability with dense integration, ultra-compact size, and cost-effective bill-of-materials (BoM) necessary for mass-market consumer products.
With a serial digital interface and on-board non-volatile memory, the SMB20X family can be easily configured during development and re-programmed in system by host software. The result is a flexible, digitally controlled power supply design that is easily customizable without tedious hardware design cycles or complex microcontroller-style GPIO-based control. The integration of advanced power control functions eliminates external components and cost, improves functionality and performance, and minimizes development time.
The SMB20X Family integrates a single or dual step-down DC-DC buck regulator with on-board high-side MOSFET(s) supplying up to 1A+1A (SMB207), 2A+ 2A (SMB208) or 4A (SMB209) output currents. Input voltage range is +4.5V to +16V and output voltage range is +0.8V to +5.0V, accurate to 2.5% over load/line/temperature. Output voltage is programmable in either 100mV steps (SMB207/208/209) or ~10mV steps (SMB207A/208A/209A). Switching frequency is programmable to 500kHz or 1MHz with 180o phase interleave for SMB207/208. Light load efficiency is supported by automatic pulse-skipping operation. Integrated frequency compensation and feedback resistors minimize BoM count, cost and design effort.
Output enable, sequencing, softstart and output voltage (UV) monitoring are all programmable as well. Output voltage monitoring is coupled to "PowerGood" or "RESET" signals with programmable output assignment and output channels can be enabled via the serial I2C interface or by the ENABLE pins. Nominal output voltages maybe changed once the system is powered up, enabling the latest SoC’s to reduce platform power using advanced voltage/clock scaling modes. The SMB20X"A" versions with the ~10mV "fine step" output voltage programming allow for easy voltage margining to support easy system validation and characterization of these same advanced SoC’s.
Tiny 3 x 3mm QFN packaging and minimal external components yield an ultra-compact (typically <100mm2) solution size. Programmed configuration is held in the OTP non-volatile memory but may be changed in system by host software via the I2C port. The rated operating temperature range is -40 to +85°C.
The SMB20X Family is well suited for a wide range of multimedia consumer and broadband/SoHo applications such as digital LCD/LED/plasma/IP televisions, digital cable/satellite/IP set-top boxes and media gateways, broadband cable/DSL modems, wireless SoHo routers and switches.
The SMB20X family is available in a tiny thermally-enhanced, RoHS-compliant , lead-free 3 X 3mm, 20-pad QFN. Available now in production quantities, the SMB20X family is priced between $1.00 each for the SMB207 to $1.40 each for the SMB208A/209A respectively in quantities of 10,000 units.
