TI Intros TPS51116 Integrated Switcher and LDO

Texas Instruments Inc. (TI, Dallas, TX) introduced its new TPS51116 IC that combines a dc-dc switch-mode controller and linear dropout (LDO) regulator to enhance power performance. The integrated device reduces the number of external components required to support all the power management for DDR systems in applications such as notebook and desktop computers, graphics cards and game machines.

The new TPS51116 integrates a synchronous current-mode dc-dc controller to power Vddq, a 3 A LDO regulator to power Vtt and a buffered reference, Vref. Fully compliant to DDR and DDR II JEDEC specifications, a complete DDR power solution can be achieved by including the power train for the switcher, and adding as few as seven external resistors and capacitors. The TPS51116 has light load efficiency, achieving greater than 85% Vddq efficiency at 10 mA. The LDO can sink/source 3 A peak currents while only needing a 2 µF x 10 µF ceramic output capacitor. The switcher inside the TPS51116 employs a control technique called D-CAP™ mode to supply 100 ns of load-step transient response and reduce the number of external output capacitors. D-CAP mode also eliminates the need for external loop compensation. Capable of supporting many design types, the Vddq voltage level can be adjusted or fixed at 2.5 V for DDR and at 1.8 V for DDR II.

The TPS51116 DDR power IC is in volume production, and is now available. The device comes in a 20-pin PowerPAD HTSSOP package. Pricing is $1.20 each in quantities of 1,000. The TPS51100 low-cost DDR power IC is available now at $0.80 each in quantities of 1,000 units.