IDT ( www.idt.com , Country Manager for Korea: Sang-Yup Lee), an analog-digital company leading the core semiconductor solutions market, announced today that it has developed and demonstrated an intelligent, scalable, distributed power management solution for Intel® Atom™, Intel® Xeon®, and Intel® Core™ processors. IDT’s innovative power management solution is designed to meet the cross-platform power requirements of various Intel-based applications with a single PMIC (Power Management IC). This patented solution from IDT has demonstrated its ability to support Intel processor families at the system level.

The IDTP9145 is a scalable and programmable multi-channel PMIC specifically designed to support the power management requirements of Intel Atom processor-based SoCs. Unlike existing solutions that required a separate PMIC for different power requirements, the highly flexible IDT9145 leverages IDT’s intelligent and scalable distributed power source (IDTP9147) to enable system designers to add phase and output current to the internal DC/DC regulators required by the application. This feature not only minimizes development risk but also provides significant flexibility for Point-of-Load (POL) regulation, circuit board routing, and heat dissipation.

"Arman Naghavi, Vice President and General Manager of IDT's Analog and Power Business Unit, said, 'We are very pleased to have developed and demonstrated IDT's patented power management solution for Intel processor-based platforms.'" He stated, “The IDTP9145 PMIC incorporates industry-first design features that allow users to configure, reconfigure, and further expand their power management solutions to support power requirements for multiple product platforms,” adding, “This highly flexible solution supports a wide range of market segments, from microservers and embedded markets to the consumer sector, including tablets and netbooks.”

Ken Caviasca, General Manager of Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) Intelligent Systems Group, stated, “IDT’s solutions provide innovative and extensive power solutions with the exceptional flexibility to support Intel processor-based platforms across a wide range of applications, such as print imaging, digital signage, and medical devices,” adding, “IDT’s solutions have fully demonstrated, through system-level evaluations, their ability to support diverse processor power requirements with a single PMIC.”

The IDTP9145 PMIC is a complete power management solution consisting of five step-down DC/DC regulators (total 20A peak current), seven low drop-out (LDO) converters, a 10-bit analog-to-digital (ADC), multiple general-purpose (GPIO) I/Os, and a high-speed I2C interface. IDT's patent-pending architecture ensures high efficiency for different power loads through seamless transitions between various operating modes. Furthermore, this solution offers exceptional configurability through one-time-programmable (OTP) memory that is programmable before factory shipment. This allows users to set custom base power sequences and configurations without the need for a high-speed I2C interface.

The IDTP9147 auxiliary distributed power source is controlled by the IDTP9145 PMIC, and although it is built into the main PMIC, the designer can issue commands to up to eight external devices. Each of these optional devices provides up to 6A of additional peak current, enabling a total expansion of up to 48A in addition to the IDTP9145's 20A. The distributed nature of this device not only widely dissipates heat across the substrate but also significantly simplifies the requirements for PCB routing and stacking close to the PMIC, which are often a design headache. Furthermore, the additional phase transient voltage and current are immediately contained within the power source's domain, helping to avoid inductive interference and minimize EMI.

Unlike driver-MOSFET (DrMOS) solutions, IDT's solution utilizes a unique 2-wire interface without sensitive analog feedback traces or separate pulse width modulation (PWM) line connections, thereby minimizing the number of PCB traces and preventing potential signal coupling issues. Additionally, automatic signal fidelity correction features effectively eliminate trace length and proximity issues, enabling users to isolate the power source and host PMIC for system optimization.

Product supply

Samples of the intelligent and scalable IDTP9145 and IDTP9147 distributed power management solutions are currently being provided to select customers. More information is available through local IDT offices and distributors, as well as on the website www.idt.com/go/PMIC .