Electrical overstress, where excessive voltage or current is applied to an integrated circuit, is one of the main causes of IC failure and can also lead to a so-called ‘walking wounded’ product that continues to operate but constitutes a reliability hazard and may cause premature system failure. Steve Munns, Mil-Aero Marketing Manager, Linear Technology Corporation, explains how the military sector can protect against this.

Featuring an I²C-based PMBus interface for digital Power System Management (PSM), a high efficiency 6A monolithic synchronous step-down DC/DC converter has been introduced by Linear Technology. The LTC3815’s simplified and intuitive PMBus “Lite” command set makes it simple to use. The digital interface provides programming and read back of voltage, current, temperature and faults; all supported by LTpowerPlay software.

Expanding its offerings in wireless battery charging, Linear Technology has announced the LTC4123 which combines a 30mW wireless receiver with a constant-current/constant-voltage linear charger for NiMH batteries. An external resonant LC tank connected to the LTC4123 enables the IC to receive power wirelessly from an alternating magnetic field generated by a transmit coil.

Linear Technology announces the LTM4648, a 2.375 to 5.5VIN, 10A step-down µModule regulator in a 9x15x4.92mm BGA package with high operating efficiency and low temperature rise. With an integrated 5V boost converter to drive the gates of its N-channel MOSFETs from low VIN supplies, the LTM4648 improves efficiency and simplifies system design by eliminating the need for 5 or 12V power rails and dependency on auxiliary regulators.

Linear has announced the LTM4677, a dual 18A or single 36A μModule (power module) step-down DC/DC regulator with PMBus serial digital interface for autonomous digital power system management. The digital interface enables system designers and remote operators to control and supervise a system’s power condition and consumption via an I2C bus with READ and WRITE commands.

Linear Technology announces the LTC3106, a highly integrated, 1.6µA quiescent current 300mV start-up buck-boost DC/DC converter with PowerPath management, optimised for multisource, low power systems. The LTC3106 is suitable for powering low power wireless sensors from rechargeable or primary batteries supplemented by energy harvesting.

Linear Technology announces the LT8714, an 80V input synchronous PWM four quadrant output DC/DC controller. This device cleanly transitions the output voltage through zero volts with up to 5A sourcing and sinking current capability, regardless of the output voltage polarity, making it suitable for regulating to positive, negative or zero volts.

Enabling independent dimming and diagnostics of eight individual LEDs or LED segments, the LT3965 LED bypass switching device has been unveiled by Linear Technology. The LT3965 works in conjunction with a LED driver circuit configured as a current source. It features eight individually controlled floating 17V/330mΩ NMOS switches.

Linear Technology Corporation introduces the LTC4125, a wireless power transmitter, complementing its range of wireless receiver ICs for the wireless charging market. The LTC4125 is a simple, high performance monolithic full bridge resonant driver, capable of delivering up to 5W of power wirelessly to a companion receiver. 

A family of ultra-low jitter 1.8GHz clock distribution chips has been introduced by Linear Technology. The LTC6954 has three independent outputs, each with its own divider and phase delay. With less than 20fsRMS additive jitter over the 12kHz to 20MHz bandwidth, the LTC6954 minimises the amount of introduced noise while dividing and distributing its input clock.

A drop-in replacement for the LTC6804, Linear Technology has announced the LTC6811 high voltage battery stack monitor featuring higher performance and 25% lower price. This a complete battery measuring IC for EVs and HEVs that incorporates a deep buried Zener voltage reference, high voltage multiplexers, 16-bit delta-sigma ADCs and a 1Mb/s isolated serial interface.

  18V buck-boost converter with Intelligent PowerPath control delivers >2A at 95% efficiency from dual inputs. By Eddy Wells, Design Section Leader, Power Management Products, Linear Technology.

Circuit boards with FPGAs, microprocessors, ASICs, and DSPs have particular design criteria, resulting in multiple power supply rails. Pinkesh Sachdev, Linear Technology, looks at some voltage supervision challenges.

Linear introduces the LTC2380-24, a breakthrough no latency 24-bit 2Msps SAR ADC. The LTC2380-24 features an integrated digital filter that averages 1 to 65,536 conversion results real time, dramatically improving the dynamic range from 101dB at 1.5Msps to 145dB at an output data rate of 30.5sps. This makes the LTC2380-24 suitable for seismic, medical and other applications demanding high dynamic range.

Linear has announced the LT8331, a current mode step-up DC/DC converter with an internal 500mA, 140V switch. It operates from an input voltage range of 4.5 to 100V, making it suitable for use with a wide range of input sources found in industrial, transportation and avionic applications. The LT8331 can be configured as either a boost, SEPIC, flyback or inverting converter.

Linear announces the LTC3884, a dual output current mode synchronous step-down DC/DC controller with programmable loop compensation and I²C-based PMBus interface. This device enables the use of very low DC resistance (DCR) power inductors (0.3mΩ) by enhancing the SNR of the current sense signal to maximise converter efficiency and increase power density.

Linear Technology announces the LT6657, a family of ultra-stable bandgap voltage references that exhibits less than 1.5ppm/°C of temperature drift. Reinforcing this groundbreaking performance, the LT6657 has only 0.5ppmp-p of low frequency noise, less than 30ppm of long term drift and 35ppm of thermal hysteresis.

Linear Technology Corporation introduces the LTC7812, a dual output (boost + buck), low quiescent current synchronous DC/DC controller. When cascaded, its independent step-up (boost) and step-down (buck) controllers regulate the output voltage from an input voltage that can be above, below or equal to the output voltage, maintaining output regulation during cold crank and load dump conditions.

Linear Technology announces the LT3909, a high efficiency, constant current LED driver that can drive two strings of up to 10 LEDs at 50mA. To ensure constant brightness, each LED string contains an accurate high side current source with ±1.8% current matching. Its input voltage range of 2.9 to 40V makes it suitable for applications ranging from single/multiple Li-Ion inputs to automotive and industrial applications.

Circuit boards with FPGAs, microprocessors, ASICs, and DSPs have particular design criteria, resulting in multiple power supply rails. Pinkesh Sachdev, Linear Technology, looks at some voltage supervision challenges