Wolfson Microelectronics - Flexible and advanced PMIC family

Sitting beside the application processor at the heart of consumer products, such as mobile phones, navigation devices and media players, PMIC devices intelligently manage and optimise the use of power within the system to maximise battery life. The unique design of the WM83xx family enables limitless configuration options making it compatible with all application and mobile graphics processors, including all ARM based processors, and configurable to address other architectures. Patent pending EEPROM interface technology maximises design process flexibility, allowing product designers to override the “one time programmable” memory of the PMIC as many times as they want, while perfecting their design. Product development and migration needs are easily accommodated, making the WM83xx a future proof choice.

The limitless configurations also mean that the WM83xx family is ideal for use in a wide range of consumer products, enabling manufacturers to consolidate on one PMIC solution across their whole product portfolio, making life simpler for product designers.

“The WM83xx family really is the only PMIC solution designers will ever need,” comments Jess Brown, power management product line manager at Wolfson, “No longer is it necessary to re-design the PMIC circuitry to accommodate a slight change in product configuration or even when switching the processor or applications. The WM83xx PMIC family can easily accommodate any changes and quick modifications can be made without the need to re-approve a new PMIC design, giving designers peace of mind that their power management solution will not be out of date with the next generation of processors.”

Introduced with the WM83xx family is Wolfson’s unique BuckWise(TM) regulator technology. While managing the system power requirements the PMIC frequently has to cope with step functions in power requirements, as different product functions are switched off and on by the user. Rapid changes in power requirements can cause disturbances in the power supply outputs leading potential disruptions in the operation of the processor. To prevent this, additional large external components are often added, and/or the processor speed is reduced to lower the load current. Wolfson’s new Buckwise(TM) regulator technology eliminates these problems by having the best-in-class transient performance. This not only removes the need for additional components, saving board space and lowering total BOM cost, but also unleashes the real performance capability of the application processor. This is the key to enabling new levels of user functionality such as the ability to handle high definition audio and video and to run true multi-tasking applications.

The enhanced transient performance also saves power, enabling the processor to run at lower voltages, improving power efficiency. System designers can choose to reduce processor power consumption by up to 25%, over previous generations of regulators, or to increase processor speed by up to 25%. So that, for example, smart phone designers can enable users to multitask for longer with no compromise on gaming, music playback and video resolution.

The BuckWise regulators also achieve an industry first by incorporating a Valley Mode Control (VMC) scheme into a PMIC for the first time ever. As process geometries shrink and voltage requirements decrease, Wolfson’s unique Valley Mode technology enables designers to seamlessly transition from node to node with minimum design effort, ensuring compatibility with the next generation of application and mobile graphics processors, without the need to change the power management design.

Incorporating a touch panel capability, real-time clock, LDOs, Buck regulator and boost for backlight, the WM83xx family offer a highly integrated PMIC solution. The WM8310, WM8311 and WM8312 are optimised for PND, PMP and mobile phones respectively, but can also easily support a much wider range of applications, including VOIP phones, digital photo frames and mobile internet devices.