Micrel intros digital PWM controller for high current, non-isolated DC-DC power supplies

SAN JOSE, USA: Micrel Inc. has introduced the MIC21000, true-digital PWM controller for high-current, non-isolated DC-DC power supplies in computing and telecom applications.

Designed to work with an external industry standard DrMOS as well as Micrel's proprietary IntelliMOS solution, the MIC21000 can be used as a flexible building block for +12V or +5V step-down, high current point-of-load power supplies. The MIC21000 is available in volume quantity with 1,000 quantity pricing starting at $3.75.

"The MIC21000 is Micrel's first of a family of digital control, intelligent DC/DC controllers targeting cloud computing servers, computing and communication systems," noted Brian Hedayati, VP of marketing for high performance linear and power solutions at Micrel.

"With the increasing demand for fault tolerant continuous operation for these systems, power designers need to design power management solutions capable of monitoring all the operating power conditions and responding to failures in real time. Moreover, digitally controlled power management products enable system designers to optimize their designs via software changes reducing design cycle time. With the release of this first digital controller, Micrel is committed to bringing to market differentiated products targeting the cloud computing segment which is growing much faster than other computing segments."

The MIC21000 meets designers' challenges by integrating a digital control loop, optimized for maximum flexibility and stability, as well as for load transient and steady state performance. The MIC21000's ultra-fast transient response reduces the output capacitance. The non-linear control feature improves transient response by a factor of two versus competing analog solutions.

Highly-reliable fuse-based, on-board nonvolatile memory (OTP NVM) and I2CTM/PMBUS interface enable user configuration and communication with a supervisory controller for monitoring and fault management. This allows for rapid power subsystem development and debugging which, in turn, accelerates time to market.

The I2CTM/ PMBUS interface allows for real time monitoring of input voltage, output voltage/current and internal/external temperature. The MIC21000 can operate from a single bias supply voltage of 5V or 3.3V. A full suite of power management features eliminates the need for complicated and expensive sequencing and monitoring of the IC.

The MIC21000 can be configured by using the Micrel Digital Designer GUI (Graphical User Interface) during development. The GUI provides an easy-to-use interface for communication and configuration. The device can also be reconfigured with PMBUS commands during runtime.

The MIC21000 is available in a compact 24-pin 4mm x 4mm QFN package with an operating temperature range from ­40 ºC to +85 ºC.