Regulator increases power system design efficiency

Part of Intersil's third generation digital power platform, the ZL2102 DC/DC regulator employs auto compensation, a feature that characterizes the power stage and automatically adjusts accordingly, generating a stable and reliable solution. Enabling faster design time through elimination of complex design calculations, the featured auto compensation also provides a highly reliable power supply that can adapt over time to external component aging.

Coming in a small 6mm x 6mm footprint, the ZL2102 is a high-performance solution featuring integrated synchronous power MOSFETs which allow the ZL2102 to deliver continuous loads up to 6A from 4.5V to 14V with high efficiency. With integrated compensation, a bootstrap diode and internal low dropout regulators (LDOs) that provide voltage to the internal gate driver, a complete ZL2102-based design can be created using minimal external components and board space.

Developed from the ground-up to reduce design time, the ZL2102 can be completely configured with external pin-strap or resistor settings allowing for setup of all key parameters and adjustment of switching frequency, output voltage, soft-start ramp/delay settings and sequencing options. For more advanced setups, the ZL2102 supports over 70 PMBus commands and can be easily configured using Intersil’s new PowerNavigator GUI. The PowerNavigator GUI enables multiple device design without having to write a single line of code, and its easy-to-use interface with visual sequencing and drag-and-drop placement significantly accelerate design time.

The ZL2102 integrates all of the functions needed in complex power systems, in which monitors and sequencers are used to fully control and monitor every power rail to improve reliability. These integrated functions allow a designer to monitor and control every aspect of the power supply through a PMBus interface and optimize without making costly hardware changes. The highly functional device can be easily incorporated into the design and replicated across the system.

"As power requirements grow increasingly complex for our customers, digital power is becoming a vital and reliable option, saving design time, reducing design risk, and allowing engineers to create efficient and highly intelligent power systems," commented Mark Adams, senior vice president of CUI’s Novum Advanced Digital Power Group.

ZL2102 Features

• Integrated 6A FETs reduce solution size and simplify design and layout
• Ability to design and adjust all major functions with external resistors, simplifying design
• Use of industry standard PMBus interface to accurately monitor all telemetric data (output voltage, input voltage, output current and temperature)
• One-wire DDC bus provides sequencing, synchronization and fault management across Intersil devices                
• Onboard NVM to store all configuration and setup parameters                 
• Integrated LDOs allow single supply operation from +12V, simplifying the design              

The ZL2102 6A digital synchronous step-down DC/DC regulator is available now in 6 x 6 36-lead QFN packages at $3.10 (USD) each in 1,000-piece units. A demo board, the ZL2102DEMO1Z, is available for a price of $80 (USD) each.