A dual 13A or single 26A µModule (micromodule) step-down DC/DC regulator has been developed by Linear Technology Corporation with a serial digital interface. The interface has interesting design chacteristics that enable system designers and remote operators to command and supervise a system’s power condition and consumption.
The ability to digitally change power supply parameters reduces time-to-market and down time by eliminating what would have historically required physical hardware, circuit, and/or system bill-of-material modifications. The LTM4676 device is claimed to be designed to simplify system characterisation, optimisation and data mining during prototyping, deployment and field operation.
Target applications include optical transport systems, datacom and telecom switches and routers, industrial test equipment, robotics, RAID and enterprise systems where the cost of electrical utilities, cooling and maintenance are critical.
In addition to delivering power to a point-of-load, other features of the new device include configurability and telemetry-monitoring of power and power management parameters over PMBus— an open standard I²C-based digital serial interface protocol. The LTM4676’s 2-wire serial interface allows outputs to be margined, tuned and ramped up and down at programmable slew rates with sequencing delay times. Input and output currents and voltages, output power, temperature, uptime and peak values are readable.
The device is combines of fast, dual analogue control loops, precision mixed-signal circuitry, EEPROM, power MOSFETs, inductors and supporting components housed in a 16 x 16 x 5.01mm BGA (ball grid array) package.
To trail the new device, the LTpowerPlay GUI (graphic user interface, free to download), USB-to-PMBus converter and demo kits are available.
The device features +/-1 percent maximum DC output error over temperature, +/-2.5 percent current read back accuracy, integrated 16-bit delta-sigma ADC and EEPROM.
The device operates from a 4.5V to 26.5V input supply and steps down VIN to two outputs ranging from 0.5V up to 5.4V. Two channels can current share to provide up to 26A (i.e.,13A+13A as one output). As many as four of these devices can be multiphased to share current up to 100A output. At start-up, output voltages, switching frequency and channel phase angle assignments can be set by pin-strapping resistors.
Linear Technology Corporation
www.linear.com/product/LTM4676
