Newbury Park, California–Semtech Corp., a supplier of mixed-signal semiconductors for communications, computers, and industrial equipment, today announced a new device that simplifies and lowers the cost of designing highly efficient core power supplies and voltage regulator modules (VRMs) for advanced microprocessors (in single and multiprocessor configurations), digital signal processors (DSPs), and memory subsystems.
The SC1155 is a high-efficiency, synchronous DC-DC hysteretic controller with an integrated 5-bit D/A converter providing a standard VID (Voltage Identification DAC) interface for programmable output voltages ranging from 1.1 Volts to 1.85 Volts, in 25 mV increments.
“Semtech continues its penetration of the power management market space, and supports its steadfast commitment to customers by supplying industry-leading device solutions such as the SC1155 hysteretic buck switch-mode controller,” says Don Ashley, vice president of system power management at Semtech. “In order to manage power consumption, devices like Intel’s Pentium III and AMD’s Athlon require extremely efficient and well-regulated core supplies, a task that just got simpler thanks to the SC1155. While the controller is intended primarily for systems where efficiency is the chief concern, it also represents a lower-cost solution than alternative approaches.”
The device’s hysteretic control represents the fastest method of providing feedback response to manage high transient loads experienced by power supplies, according to the company, while also offering minimal output voltage ripple and reducing the number of external components, such as output filters or sense resistors.
The SC1155 achieves up to 95% efficiency, depending on selected input and output voltages. The device also features temperature compensation, delivering less +/-1% output voltage variation over its specified range of 0 to 125 degrees C. Other significant features of the SC1155 include lossless current sensing and limiting, over-current protection, power-good signaling, and an adaptive deadtime circuit to prevent shoot-through current of the power MOSFETs during switching transitions. The SC1155 high side driver can be configured as either a ground referenced or as a floating bootstrap driver. The high and low side MOSFET drivers have a peak current rating of 2 Amps.
Production quantities and evaluation boards are available immediately.