TI Introduces PWM Controller that Enables Power Supplies to Scale up to 320A
Texas Instruments Inc. introduced a highly flexible, power management integrated circuit (IC) that turns power supplies in data centers and telecommunications equipment into fully scalable, stackable power systems with greater load-handling capability and maximum efficiency. TI's TPS40140 synchronous, pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller operates as a stand-alone device that generates two outputs, or as a two-channel, multi-phase controller. Using the device's advanced capabilities, designers are now able to "stack" multiple devices together to create a high-density power supply that can generate up to 320A of output current and support up to 16 phases. In addition, the system can maintain greater power efficiency with today's power stage components.
In applications such as high-density telecom and wireless systems, the TPS40140 significantly increases load-handling capability and simplifies power system design. For 3G base stations driven by 1-GHz digital signal processors (DSPs) like TI's new TMS320TCI6482, the TPS40140 offers greater energy performance, low noise and low power. For data center servers, the controller gives designers the opportunity to more easily develop a complete multi-phase power system with high efficiency operation.
The unique stacking capability of the TPS40140 enables the power supply to perform automatic phase-balancing, which significantly minimizes the ripple current in both the output and input capacitors and allows an overall smaller solution size. Designers can also implement topologies where multiple output rails based on multi-phase and/or single-phase output topologies are both synchronized and phase-balanced to achieve greater levels of power density and flexibility while maintaining a uniform electromagnetic interference (EMI) spectrum of frequencies.
The TPS40140 current-mode controller supports a wide input voltage conversion range of 2 to 40V, enabling high-performance operation from a 4.5 to 15V power source. The device has excellent line and load regulation of 0.1%, supported by a high-precision ±0.5%, 0.7V voltage reference and high-accuracy differential load sense amplifier. The TPS40140 is equipped with complete supervisory and control features for today's power supplies, including pre-bias start-up capability, programmable under-voltage lockout, lossless direct current resistance or resistor current sensing, independent power good indicators, separate soft start controls, synchronization input, programmable over-current protection and thermal shutdown. In addition, the TPS40140 controller supports three common sequencing schemes, including sequential sequencing, ratio-metric sequencing and simultaneous sequencing.
The TPS40140 controller is available in volume from TI and its authorized distributors. Packaged in a 6 mm x 6 mm, 36-pin QFN, suggested resale pricing is $3.30 each in quantities of 1,000 units. Software development tools for the TPS40140 will be available in the fourth quarter of 2006 through TI's new Pro series of tools.
