Nordic Semiconductor (Country Manager: Choi Soo-chul) has expanded the range of choices for developers by adding a new power management IC useful for applications such as wearable and gaming mice and battery charging cases for widely used in-ear headphones.

Nordic announced on the 28th that it has added three new products to its nPM1100 power management IC family.

This product family has so far only been available in ultra-small 2.1 x 2.1 mm chip-scale packages (CSP).

The first of the new models is available in a more widely used 4x4 mm QFN package.

While CSP packages are absolutely necessary for products with strict size constraints, QFNs can be used in all other cases as they are easier to manufacture, more economical, and can simplify design, development, and verification.

In addition, QFN provides superior temperature and vibration durability compared to CSP.

The second and third nPM1100 models support a higher maximum (termination) battery charge voltage (VTERM) required to fully charge specific types of lithium-ion cells commonly used in portable wireless products. These models are available in CSP or QFN packages.

Termination voltage is the maximum voltage the battery reaches during charging. This is used in battery charging circuits to switch from constant current charging to constant voltage charging, and ultimately to determine the battery's full charge and charging stop points.

All Nordic nPM1100 products can be configured via pins, so no separate software is required for configuration.

"Chip-scale packages can be miniaturized to an astonishing degree. The smallest CSP configuration of the nPM1100 solution has a board footprint of only 23 mm², including passive components. On the other hand, for battery-based applications where space constraints are not strict, QFN packages are often preferred to take advantage of the product's excellent power management efficiency and ease of use," said Geir Kjosavik, PMIC Product Director at Nordic Semiconductor.

In addition, they added, “The maximum termination voltage of the previous nPM1100 model was lower than that of lithium-ion batteries widely used in wearable products. By supporting a higher termination voltage, the new nPM1100 model enables the utilization of the power optimization potential of Nordic Power Management ICs in all portable electronic devices and supports a wider range of applications.”

All new nPM1100 products are currently in mass production and available for purchase. A new version (nPM1100 EKHV) of the existing evaluation kit (nPM1100 EK) is also available to evaluate higher termination voltages.