PMIC enables 2S Li batteries for thinner computing

3rd June 2015

Barney Scott

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Datasheet

Dialog Semiconductor has introduced the DA9312, a PMIC that enables the design of smaller, thinner notebooks and tablets powered by dual cell stacked (2S) Li-ion or Li-Polymer batteries. The notebook industry is moving towards designs powered by 2-cell, rather than 3-cell batteries and tablets are moving from single cell to 2-cell batteries. Dialog calls its DA9312 the 'most integrated power management solution currently available'.

Using the DA9312 with a just few external components requires only 80mm² of board space, a fraction of that of discrete component power converters. The device delivers industry-leading efficiency of 98%, minimising thermal management challenges and boosting product reliability.

Rated at 90W, the DA9312 is the first high power device of its type in the industry. It accepts an input voltage from 5.5 to 10.5V, which then feeds three independent power supplies. The main power converter uses capacitors to store charge and requires no external inductor. The device’s two high-frequency buck converters switch at a frequency of 1.5MHz, so 1mm high inductors and very small capacitors can be used on the outputs.

The power converter, which outputs half the input voltage, is rated at up to 10 A and the two buck converters can each deliver up to 5A at between 2.8 and 5.35V. Alternatively, the buck converter outputs can be combined to turn the device into a dual phase regulator capable of supplying up to 10A on each output. All power supplies within the PMIC have integrated FET power switches to minimise external component count and board size, and no Schottky diodes are needed.

Other features of the DA9312 include programmable soft start up, power good signal, and remote sensing to ensure voltage accuracy at the point of load, whatever the PCB track routing. An I2C-compatible control interface and configurable GPIO extender are also integrated into the PMIC, together with over-temperature and over-current protection.

“Delivering the most highly integrated PMICs transformed the power management architecture of the smartphone and later the tablet industry, giving Dialog its leadership position today,” said Udo Kratz, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mobile Systems Business Group, Dialog. “Adopting this integration approach for computing will replace the discrete power management solutions which have dominated computing systems to date and significantly increase the total addressable market for our power saving technologies.”

The DA9312 is available now in a WL-CSP 6.345x2.815mm package, and implements Dialog’s RouteEasy ball layout for high density routing on low cost PCBs. The PMIC operates with a die temperature from -40 to +125°C.