Although digital power is only a small fraction of today’s power electronics industry, its growth and development is expected to play a major role in the future of power conversion and power management. A number of semiconductor manufacturers are actively involved in determining what functions system makers want, what will be the added value of digital over analog, and the external demands that digital will meet more effectively than analog. Looking at semiconductor company offerings of digital products for 2006, it is clear that the technology has been accepted and is being implemented into a number of designs. In the area of power management and conversion, digital power now supports serial bus communications using a number of protocols, remote monitoring, sequencing of the power supply, software upgrading, digital compensation and a variety of other features.
In 2005, there were only a few digital power product introductions; in 2006, semiconductor companies were getting used to the digital designs and were starting to improve and modify the technology. In 2007, there should be enough interest in the industry to promote a real increase in digital power designs.
Among the applications most receptive to digital power is power factor correction (PFC), which greatly benefits from non-linear programming. Applications featuring PFC often have functions that are better implemented in digital rather than analog.
In addressing this need, IXYS introduced two gate drive and regulator ICs for enabling microcontroller-based digital power management, including power factor correction—the IXI858 and IXI859. These ICs are designed to provide the needed analog functions required by microprocessors to implement offline digital power supply control. The IXI858 and IXI859 were optimized for cost efficiency to support high-volume applications like dimmable ballasts, non-dimmable ballasts and high-intensity-discharge (HID) lighting systems.
In addition, iWatt produces a power factor correction (PFC) Controller – the iW2202. The iW2202 employs a new digital control technology that enables accurate control of the power supply from the primary side. Key markets include notebooks, computer adapters, flat panel displays, utility meters and LCD TVs.
Texas Instruments features a number of digital products that are designed to enhance the performance and lifetime of power systems. The company announced the introduction of four new members of the TMS320C2000TM platform optimized for motor control, digital power conversion and intelligent sensor controls in industrial, appliances, automotive, medical and consumer applications. The new controllers include the TMS320F2809 and TMS320F2802 flash-based controllers and custom ROM-based TMS320C2801 and TMS320C2802.
Silicon Labs announced the Si825x family of single-chip digital power supply controllers that combine the flexibility and programmability of a DSP with the fast response of a hardware-based controller. Competing directly with both TI and Silicon Labs is Zilker Labs, which introduced the ZL2005, a digital power control IC that combines power conversion functions with power management capabilities.
Other new offerings include Microchip's family of 16-bit dsPIC digital signal controllers (DSCs) for common, multi-loop switch-mode power supplies (SMPSs) and other power-conversion applications. The dsPIC30F1010 and dsPIC30F2020/2023 (dsPIC30F202X) DSCs devices are designed for use in ac-dc converters, isolated dc-dc power converters and other power-conversion applications, such as embedded power-supply controllers, power inverters and UPSs.
Analog Devices announced a family of hot-swap controllers with integrated digital power monitoring that is intended to reduce power requirements, cost and thermal challenges in blade servers, blade PCs and advanced telecom computing (ATCA) cards. The ADM1175/6/7/8 devices address the increasing power requirements of these systems – which result in part from the rising number of processors inside – by overseeing the usage of individual boards in blade-structured systems.
Linear Technology has introduced the LTC2970, a dual I2C power supply monitor and margining controller designed for digital management of power supplies in high-availability systems. The LTC2970 is designed to work with almost any power supply, allowing designers to choose the optimal dc-dc converter with an analog control loop that provides control of output voltage.
Primarion’s entry into the field of digital power management and control ICs for non-isolated dc-dc converters is the PX7510, which incorporates fast on-chip memory, as well as the PMBus protocol. In addition, Primarion launched the PX3539, the company’s latest VR11 digital multi-phase power controller for core power regulation and intelligent Point-of-Load (POL) power regulation in server and desktop applications.
Summit Microelectronics announced an addition to its second generation of multi-output programmable power manager ICs. The SMB118 provides digital power management via an I2C interface and non-volatile memory allowing the user to configure power functions and parameters.
Systel Development and Industries Ltd. has introduced the second-generation IDC2000 configurable system on chip (CSoC) controller platform for power management applications based on Systel’s unique digital signal processing approach. Systel’s IDC architecture provides an alternative to custom ASIC solutions. The IDC, with on-board flash memory, is fully configured at the level of the digital blocks and their interlinking, without code programming, using design tools provided by Systel.
A strategy of partnerships and alliances is evident in the digital power industry, as Primarion and Linear Technology announced an agreement to produce digital POL products for the networking, computing and telecommunications infrastructure markets. Linear Technology and Primarion will dual source Primarion’s Di-POLTM family of PMBus-compliant digital dc-dc controllers. The agreement between the two companies involves dual sourcing and mutual promotion of programmable digital POL controllers targeting infrastructure applications including servers, network switches and routers.
Another major alliance in the digital power industry can be seen in the decision of Atmel to join Power-One and C&D Technologies to create the Z-One Digital Power Alliance. The inclusion of Atmel in the Z-Alliance increases the semiconductor development, manufacturing and supply chain capabilities of the Z-Alliance organization. The agreement combines the strength of all three companies to define and provide the next generation of digital power conversion and management products based on the Z-One Digital Power Architecture with focus on the communications and data infrastructure markets.
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