News

On the Exhibition Floor at PCIM 2007

May 24, 2007 by Jeff Shepard

From May 22 to May 24 at the PCIM Exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany, Toshiba Electronics Europe, National Semiconductor, Microchip Technology and Power Integrations were among the many companies that introduced and demonstrated a variety of power converters and related components.

Toshiba launched a new generation of single-chip inverters for BLDC motor applications operating with voltages up to 500V. Offered in pwm and non-pwn versions, the new devices integrate full three-phase inverter bridge operation with key features including protection and integrated bootstrap diodes in a DIP26 package.

The new TPD412x family of single-chip inverters is designed for use in home appliances such as refrigerators and washers as well as industrial motion control applications including pumps and fans. The new chips combine high-and low-side drivers with six IGBTs to supply current to the motor. Integrated fast recovery bootstrap diodes reduce component cost, while additional on-board functions include over-temperature, over-current and under-voltage protection.

Throughout the three days of PCIM, National Semiconductor demonstrated its new LM5073 Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) powered device (PD) controller. This new controller features adjustable output current level and the ability to interface with any dc-dc converter topology.

Claimed to be the industry’s highest power PoE controller, National’s new LM5073 integrates a programmable interface port including a hot-swap controller that exceeds the standard IEEE 802.3af specifications, allowing designers to operate PoE appliances at power levels of 30W or more.

For greater flexibility, the LM5073 separates the PD interface from the dc-dc converter to support a wide variety of isolated and non-isolated dc-dc converter topologies. Applications include IP telephony, remote security cameras, card readers, wireless access points, PoE-enabled industrial automation systems and point-of-sale terminals.

Microchip announced the MCP1603, a 2-MHz, 500mA switching regulator. The new low-power switcher provides adjustable and fixed output voltages, operating efficiency up to 90% and is offered in a TSOT-23 and 2mm x 3mm DFN packages. The new device is designed to extend battery life and reducing heat dissipation in a variety of portable, hand held electronic devices.

This switcher also features a quiescent current of 45µA, a standby current of 100µA, under voltage lockout, over-temperature and ovr-current protection and auto transition from pwm to pfm modes for lower energy use and heat dissipation. The input of the MCP1603 can cover the entire Li-ion, Li-polymer, NiCd and NiMH voltage range.

Also during this year’s show in Nuremberg, Power Integrations introduced the TinySwitch-PK integrated power supply control IC that can deliver up to 280% of peak power for short periods of time. The new device enables designers to specify transformers rated for the continuous power level, significantly reducing size, weight and cost of designs.

Many consumer products have seldom-used motors, buzzers or lights that require extra power for short periods. DVD player drawer-opening moors or PVR disk drive moors are good examples. The rest of the time, the hardware performs standard tasks and consumes much less power.

The challenge in these systems is to design a power supply that can provide the needed peaks, but does not burden the application with peak costs. By automatically entering into a special peak mode, doubling operating frequency and boosting current limit for the duration of the peak power requirement, the TinySwitch-PK coaxes p to 80% of the design power level out of the same transformer and integrated 700V MOSFET.