DC/DC converter has low IQ for battery-powered industrial devices

Characterised by a low quiescent current (I_Q), the TPS61094 buck/boost converter can extend battery life by up to 20% when compared to commonly used hybrid-layer capacitors (HLCs), says Texas Instruments. The 60nA bi-directional buck/boost converter has a low IQ of 60nA, which is one-third the I_Q of alternative boost converters. An integrated buck mode is for supercapacitor charging while providing low I_Q to extend battery life.

Supercapacitor charging and discharging help support peak loads and backup power, which are important for continuous operation in battery-powered industrial applications such as smart meters, smoke detectors and video doorbells, as well as medical applications. 

Designing battery-operated systems can present a need to achieve high efficiency at no- or light-load conditions, in the low mA or µA range. This requires power supplies to regulate output while maintaining low supply current in the nA range. 

The buck/booster converter can be used to replace HLCs with supercapacitors for peak load support and to extend battery life in applications that must run on a single battery for 10 years or more. It can also provide backup power in applications that require safe power-down or last-gasp communication during a power outage. 

In addition to extending battery life, the buck/boost converter has a 2A inductor current limit in boost operation, thereby doubling the output current compared to competitive boost converters. The additional output current enables the TPS61094 to support radio standards such as narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), LTE-M, Wi-SUN, MIOTY, Bluetooth and wireless M-Bus, over a wider input voltage range. For example, it can support more than 250mA of output current down to an input voltage of 0.7V.

Typical applications such as smart meters require several power components for backup power features or peak load support. Integrating a buck charger and a boost converter into a single IC removes the need for a discrete buck charger, inductor and two external capacitors, which can reduce component count by 50% and free up board space, explains Texas Instruments.

Integrating the buck charger and boost converter in a single device, allows design engineers to control the handshake between all functions, for a seamless transition between operating modes.

The TPS61094 is now available through TI and authorised distributors in a 2.0 x 3.0mm, 12-pin very thin small outline no-lead (WSON) package. Full and custom quantity reels are available. There is also an evaluation module, the TPS61094EVM-066, also available.