Broadband and Wireless are two technologies currently driving the portable device market. New broadband technologies include wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), third generation (3G) and Power-over-Ethernet (PoE). Wireless is more expansive and includes not only communications devices but other segments, such as medical, which are utilizing wireless technologies more and more. Wireless also includes new ways that portable devices are communicating with each other.
Both Wi-Fi and 3G are broadband and wireless technologies that are having a major impact on the portable market, not only in terms of the portable devices that are used with them (notebook computers and mobile phones, for example) but also the products used to power them (such as adapters and battery chargers).
Darnell Group (www.darnell.com) projects that the worldwide dollar market for adapters and battery chargers used with cellular phones and notebook computers to be $1,765 million in 2003, increasing to $2,180 million in 2007, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4%. Much of the growth in these markets stems from emerging technologies.
Semiconductor advances are enabling many of these new technologies, such as increasing battery life and more sophisticated power management. Companies are finding ways to effectively control output power, and produce advanced battery-management products fully integrated onto one piece of silicon.
Power Amplifier (PA) modules are enabling many of the new features in Wi-Fi devices and next-generation mobile handsets. Agilent Technologies (www.agilent.com) has introduced a new series of PA modules for codedivision multiple access (CDMA) and global system for mobile communications (GSM) phones that allow manufacturers to increase mobile phone battery life by as much as 15%. These include the ACPM-7813 and ACPM-7833 CDMA modules and the ACPM-7891 GSM module. Analog Devices (www.analog.com) is using directional coupling for controlling output power in cell phones with the next-generation quad-band ADL5552 X-PA PA module for GSM/general packet radio service (GPRS) cell phones. For IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g network interface cards and access points, Microsemi Corp. (www.microsemi.com) introduced the new LX5512E three-stage PA.
According to Texas Instruments (www.ti.com), designers of high-performance, application-based, portable products can quickly solve highly complex battery management and integration issues through use of its new TPS65010 power and battery management integrated circuit (IC). The smart power IC fulfills all the major power-management require-ments for single-cell, lithium-ion or lithium-polymer battery-powered applications that contain multiple power rails and advanced applications processors, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, and digital cameras. Power conversion efficiency is claimed up to 97%.
The increasing demand for light-emitting diode (LED) matching and brightness control in cellular phones,
PDAs, pagers, and other portable applications has led Fairchild Semiconductor (www.fairchildsemi.com) to develop the FAN5608 LED driver IC family. With its built-in, actively matched current sources (within ±3%), these directly driven LED driver ICs eliminate the need for external current-matching resistors to reach up to 97.5% efficiency. The FAN5608 can serially connect up to six LEDs on each of two parallel channels.
Broadband access technologies are supporting a variety of systems that make use of different kinds of powering. PoE utilizes internal ac-dc power supplies and uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) for network power backup. PoE can power devices requiring local area network (LAN) connections, including PDA and notebook computer docking stations, Internet protocol (IP) phones, and cell phone chargers. This market is expected to grow from $29 million to $78 million between 2003 and 2008, a CAGR of 21.8%. Powerline communications adapters and modems use external ac-dc power supplies, although this is a much smaller market-about $1 million between 2003 and 2008.
To allow power supply positioning anywhere along an Ethernet cable, Ault Inc. (www.aultinc.com) announced its PW130 power sourcing equipment (PSE). This new single-port, PoE midspan PSE provides power through integral RJ45 jacks, as well as data in accordance with IEEE 802.3 and 802.3af guidelines over a single CAT 5 Ethernet cable. The PW130 dc PSE is suitable for virtually any powered device that requires a LAN connection running 13W or less.
Amperion Inc. (www.amperion.com), a provider of medium-voltage, powerline communications equip-ment, recently unveiled both the Amperion Connect Powerline and PowerWiFi access systems. The Amperion Connect system offers a suite of hardware and software products that enable broadband access, backhaul and internal utility services. The PowerWiFi access system links the power line network to end users via an 802.11b connection.
An increasing number of portable peripheral devices are using the universal serial bus (USB) interface to communicate with personal computers (PCs). To allow these portable devices to communicate with each other over the USB interface, the On-The-Go (OTG) Supplement to the USB 2.0 specification was developed. The supplement provides guidelines for allowing a portable device to take on the role of a limited USB host, without supporting all of the functions of a host PC.
Advanced Analogic Technologies Inc. (www.analogictech.com) announced what it calls the first integrated power solution to conform to the emerging USB OTG specification. Using a high-efficiency, charge pump topology, the AAT3125 regulates output voltage to 5V and supplies up to 100mA output current. Additionally, all voltage-monitoring functionality is integrated to ensure OTGprotocol compatibility.
A growing number of vendors are now offering silicon solutions that conform to the USB OTG specification.
Maxim Integrated Products (www.maxim-ic.com) recently launched the MAX3353E/MAX3355E power-plus-support ICs. Designed to be used in conjunction with dual-role USB controllers that contain host and peripheral functionality along with a USB transceiver, the new devices provide the 5V VBUS power and support for dual-role controllers required by USB OTG applications.
The adoption of wireless technology is also enabling a new set of capabilities in medical device design. For example, CardioNet's (www.cardionet.com) PDA-type electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring device can wirelessly monitor heart patients believed to suffer from episodic atrial fibrillation. The device uses technology originally developed by Qualcomm to track and send messages to large truck fleets. Medical telemetry, ultrasound, infusion pumps, and ECG/respiration bedside monitors are all either candidates, or in trials, for using wireless links to make the devices truly mobile.
GlobTek (www.globtek.com) offers the WR9H(M) Series of wall-plug adapters for portable medical devices.
The low-profile North America and Europe wall-plug-in configuration provides output voltages from 3.0V
to 48V in 0.1V increments, from a 3W to 12W output power, single-platform design. This switcher family incorporates an additional output-ripple attenuator for less than 10mV.
