Customers get more with digital power
Flexible PMBus voltage to enable
Release of Regulator and System Power Protection ICs


October 17, 2011 -- TI announced two 20V step-down voltage regulators featuring a PMBus digital interface and adaptive voltage extension capabilities for non-isolated point-of-load (PoL) designs. Together with National's system power protection and management products, TI provides design engineers with complete single, dual, multi-rail, and multi-phase PMBus solutions, enabling telecom and server designers to intelligently monitor, protect, and manage the health of their power systems.

Flexible step-down controller

TI’s 2MHz TPS40400 single-channel controller, supporting an input range of 3V to 20V, and the new 1.2MHz TPS40422 dual-channel or multi-phase controller, supporting an input voltage range of 4.5V to 20V, integrate high-performance analog constant voltage functions with digital control capabilities to achieve over 90% efficiency, stringent output voltage accuracy, and design flexibility. The device’s unique adaptive voltage scaling can reduce power consumption by more than 25% compared to previous solutions and eliminate up to 12 external components. This controller achieves power efficiency much more effectively when used with TI NexFET™ power MOSFETs such as the CSD87350Q5D.

Niklas Fallgren, Vice President and General Manager of OEM Embedded Power at GE Energy, said, “Communications, cloud computing data centers, and mobile internet infrastructure applications require high-performance yet low-risk digital power management solutions,” adding, “TI’s integrated digital power controller enables DLynx™ PoL modules to provide real-time diagnostics and monitoring capabilities through adaptive voltage scaling while ensuring PMBus interoperability.”

Designers can monitor and control power systems using TI's easy-to-use GUI (Graphic User Interface) tools by setting parameters for the TPS40400 or TPS40422. Additionally, TI's SwitcherPro™ tool allows for the easy development of designs including internal and external compensation circuits in less than one minute.

System Power Protection and Management

The TPS40400 and TPS40422, when combined with National’s 17V system power and hot-swap protection IC LM25066, can implement a complete PMBus-compatible solution for 12V systems with input protection and power conversion capabilities. The LM25066 continuously provides a system management controller with accurate real-time power measurement capabilities, including voltage, current, temperature, and fault data for each blade subsystem in telecom or server applications, thereby improving stability. In a 48V system generating a 12V bus, the National +/-48V LM5066 and LM5064 system power and protection circuits accurately measure, protect, and control electrical operating conditions.

TI's Digital Power

The TPS40400 and TPS40452 analog PMBus controllers and National System Protection ICs expand TI's portfolio of digital power products to meet isolated or non-isolated power design requirements. The UCD9K and UCD3K digital power controllers and UCD7K drivers provide built-in hardware functions that enable simpler, faster, and more accurate implementation of power topologies, as well as offering a high level of configurability. TI's fully programmable TMS320F28x Piccolo™ and Delfino™ 32-bit microcontrollers provide intelligent digital power peripherals, flexible software programmability, and real-time performance control for power supplies. (For more information, please visit www.ti.com/digitalpower )

Price and Supply Time

All TI and National power management products are currently available from TI and TI authorized distributors. The TPS40400 is available in a thermally enhanced 24-pin, 3.5mm x 5.5mm QFN package at $2.15 per 1,000-unit quantity. Samples of the TPS40422 are currently available in a 40-pin, 6mm x 6mm package, with mass production scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter. The price is $3.10 based on a quantity of 1,000.

More detailed information on TI's DC/DC controller portfolio and additional support tools

· TI DC/DC Controller Portfolio
· Download TI's free graphical user interface software tool
· Order TPS40400 Developer Kit: TPS40400EVM-351 Evaluation Module
· Start DC/DC design in under 1 minute with the online or downloadable SwitcherPro tool
· More information on TI and National's hot-swap controller products: www.ti.com/protectioncircuitry and www.national.com/hotswap
· Download the new Power Stage Designer™ switch-mode power supply topology tool
Ask fellow audio engineers and troubleshoot in the TI E2E™ community: www.ti.com/powerforum-pr