PMBus Compliant Synchronous Buck Controller from Powervation Provides Real-Time Adaptive Loop Compensation & Power Saving Modes

With this architecture, Powervation new controllers provide features, flexibility, and performance beyond that seen on other digital power solutions today. The Auto-Control® adaptive loop compensation algorithm provides the industry’s first and only real-time autonomous compensation solution, and is able to modulate the converter’s bandwidth on a cycle-by-cycle basis to optimize the trade-off between dynamic performance and system stability. PV3101 uses full differential voltage, current, and temperature measurements and an 11 bit ADC to provide precision measurement (e.g., ±3% IOUT accuracy over temperature), tight control (e.g., ±0.5% VOUT over line, load, and temperature), and accurate real-time reporting of telemetry information for key power supply parameters.

In order to reduce power losses during light-load operation and idle conditions, Powervation has improved upon its Green Modes™ technology for this generation of digital DC/DC controller by adding additional modes of operation focused on increasing light-load efficiency. The PV3101 supports a diode emulation mode that triggers once the converter enters DCM operation, thus preventing the low-side FET from sinking current when the inductor current ramps down to zero. To further improve light-load efficiency, PV3101 employs a pulse skipping mode that reduces high-side FET switching losses by eliminating unneeded switching cycles, while still maintaining tight output regulation. And, like Powervation’s PV3012 dual-phase controller, PV3101 offers idle, standby, and power down modes to reduce chip power consumption when the power converter is idle.

Comments Powervation’s Director of Product Marketing, David New: “Expanding our portfolio of digital power solutions, the PV3101 controller provides an optimize solution for single phase applications, while adding new power saving control techniques to address our customers’ need for highly-efficient digital DC/DC solutions.” The PV3101 can be interconnected with other Powervation controllers via its DSS™ current share bus for use in multi-phase designs. And with the PowerSMART™ GUI-based design tool, users are able to easily configure and adjust more than 60 power supply parameters without making modification in hardware.

The PV3101 is designed to function with all leading driver and FET solutions to allow the designer maximum flexibility, powering ASICs, FPGAs, processors, and general POLs for networking, communications, server, storage, and advanced power module applications. RoHS compliant, the PV3101 is sampling now in 32-lead QFN packaging. Pricing starts at $2.90 each in quantities of 1000 pieces. The PowerSMART™ design tool is offered at no charge, and is available for download from the Powervation website.

Summary of Key Features
• Single Output, Single Phase Synchronous Buck Controller
• Auto-Control Real-Time Adaptive Loop Compensation
• Supports Automatic, Configurable Phase Drop/Add
• Diode Emulation and Pulse Skipping Modes
• Precision Measurement and Reporting Telemetry (VOUT, IOUT, VIN, EOUT, Temperature, Duty Cycle, and Switching Frequency)
• ±0.5% VOUT, ±1.5% VIN, & ±3% IOUT Accuracy Over Temperature
• Output Voltage Tracking, Sequencing, Margining
• Single-Pin CONFIG™ with Memory for Eight Profile Tables
• Programmable Fault Protection (OVP, OCP, SCP, LOS, UVLO, OVLO, OTP)
• Anti-Fuse Based Non-Volatile Memory (NVM)
• Digital Stress Share (DSS™) Single Wire Bus for Multi-Phase Converters
• Programmable Frequency 375 kHz to 1 MHz
• 0.6 V to 5.5 V Output
• SMBus Interface with PMBus™ Compliant Communication