Silicon Laboratories Debuts Si8250 Digital Power Controller
Silicon Laboratories Inc. (Austin, TX) debuted its new Si825x family of patented single-chip digital power supply controllers that combine the flexibility and programmability of a DSP with the fast response of a hardware-based controller at the Portable Power Developer's Conference 2005 (PPDC '05). The Si825x is the first of a family of products specifically designed for power control applications.
A unique architecture enables the Si825x family of products to provide both digital power control and power-management functions for most isolated and non-isolated switch-mode power supply topologies while consuming one-tenth the space and drawing less than 15% of the supply current of typical DSP solutions. The Si8250 is a suitable digital control solution for high-performance system applications, such as telecom and datacom systems, computers, servers, and industrial and medical equipment.
The Si825x architecture incorporates high-speed processing hardware for real-time loop control and a FLASH-based system management controller. The high-bandwidth control loop updates at a 10 MHz rate and contains a dedicated analog-to-digital converter (ADC), programmable DSP filter engine, six-channel DPWM and programmable over-current protection hardware detector. The system management controller performs fault detection and recovery, control loop optimization, PMBus communication and external device management.
"Estimated to be more than a $17.4 billion market in 2009, the combined ac-dc and dc-dc power market is increasingly interested in digital control in power conversion and power management due to the growing complexity of system applications," stated Darnell Group President Jeff Shepard. "Silicon Laboratories has delivered a digital solution that offers the flexibility, adjustability and programmability required by customizable power supplies."
The Si825x is supported with an intuitive toolset that leverages existing analog design methodology, minimizing the digital control design learning curve. The toolset consists of a real-time firmware kernel (C-language source code), loop compensation and timing simulator/designer tools, system controller, configuration wizards and Silicon Laboratories™ Integrated Development Environment. The Si825x development kit also includes a USB debug adaptor and complete half-bridge Si825x-based dc-dc converter. The kit comes complete with a PMBus interface protocol and external host interface hardware.
Specified to operate in the -40 °C to +125 °C range, the Si825x is available in a 5 mm x 5 mm, 28-pin, quad no lead (QFN) package or a 32-pin low-profile, quad flat package (LQFP). Pricing for the Si825x family starts at $2.49 in quantities of 1,000 pieces. The Si825x is sampling now with general availability scheduled for the third quarter of 2005.
