PMICs offer high power density & 200mA quiescent current

17th March 2015

Micrel, Inc.

Barney Scott

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Micrel has introduced a family of highly integrated and configurable PMIC solutions featuring six independent DC/DC regulators. The MIC7400 and MIC7401 combine five independent 3A synchronous buck converters, an independent 200mA non-synchronous boost converter, and numerous programmable features. In a 4.5mm² FQFN package, this family provides high power density with a total solution size of 12x8x1mm.

The devices are targeted at SSDs and a growing number of applications deploying processors and SoCs, including smart-home and IoT devices.

The devices are configurable via an I²C interface and an internal EEPROM. These highly configurable power management devices offer dynamic output voltage scaling, normal and standby modes, and start-up power sequencing order and delays. Utilising only 200μA of quiescent current in normal mode, the MIC7400/MIC7401 also has a low power standby mode of operation that provides flexibility to reduce the quiescent current by decreasing output voltage or completely turning off any individual output. This feature further optimises efficiency in sleep/hibernate states and prolongs operating life in sensitive lower power applications. The combination of power density and feature flexibility, in addition to superior fast transient response and light load performance, results in an efficiency-optimised high-density solution for space constrained applications while reducing design cycle time.

The device is accompanied by a simple and intuitive GUI tool to aid configuration and monitoring. The MIC7400/MIC7401 operates from a 2.4 to 5.5V input and can provide an output of 0.8 to 3.3V for the buck regulators with 1.5% output accuracy over line/load and temperature. The integrated boost regulator is capable of regulating output voltages from 7 to 14V. Other configurable features include soft-start rise/fall times, current limit, output active discharge in-addition to the threshold and delay for the integrated power-on-reset circuitry. The MIC7400 and MIC7401 are specified with a junction temperature range of -40 to +125°C.

“End product design requirements continue to change with power requirements varying during product development while there is constant pressure on product designers to reduce board space,” noted Brian Hedayati, Vice President of Marketing, High Performance Linear and Power Solutions, Micrel. “Micrel's configurable PMIC provides a flexible solution that allows instantaneous adjustments for requirement changes thereby reducing design cycle time and time to market. The MIC7400/MIC7401 power architecture allows designers to enhance system efficiency across a range of power modes.”

The devices are available in volume quantities with 10,000 quantity pricing starting at $4.09.