Fast and Highly Integrated Four Channel Digital Isolators

The patent-pending Si844x uses chip-scale transformers fabricated in a standard, 100 percent CMOS to deliver a highly integrated four channel isolator that is one-third the size of competing opto-coupler solutions reducing the bill-of-material cost by as much as 50 percent. The Si844x offers 50 percent faster data rates than existing digital isolators and consumes less than 12 mA per channel at 100 Mbps, making it ideal for applications such as switch mode power supplies, Ethernet/CAN networks and isolated analog data acquisition.

The Si844x single-chip solution greatly simplifies circuit layout design compared to other isolation technologies implemented with multiple discrete components. Based on a patented architecture, the Si844x achieves the highest level of performance using a unique RF encoding/decoding scheme that provides a robust isolated data path and requires no special consideration or initialization. While traditional isolation methods are notoriously slow and exhibit changing operating characteristics with temperature and time, the Si844x products are as much as 1500x faster than other isolation technologies and exhibit stable operating characteristics over temperature, supply voltage and time.

The product family includes the four-channel Si8440, Si8441 and the Silicon Labs used todays Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) to announce the expansion of its digital power product portfolio. The Si844x is said to be the industry’s highest performance, easiest-to-use, lowest cost 2500VRMS digital isolator product family., all of which are offered in a 16-pin wide-body small outline IC package (SOIC) that is pin-for-pin compatible with competing solutions. The Si8840 offers four forward channels while the Si8441 offers three forward channels and one reverse channel, and the Si8442 offers two forward channels and two reverse channels. The Si844x products are fully specification compliant with Underwriters Laboratories UL1577 (USA), VDE Testing and Certification Institute VDE60747-5-2 (Europe) and CSA’s Component Acceptance Service CSA#5A (Canada).