Switching regulator for Thunderbolt applications

24th July 2014

Nat Bowers

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Datasheet

Texas Instruments has introduced what the company claims is the first fully integrated power solution for bus-powered Thunderbolt applications. The TPS65980 DC/DC switching regulator integrates all power management functions required for a Thunderbolt bus-powered device, reducing the total BOM cost by 50% and solution size by 40% compared to discrete solutions.

Ti has also claimed that the TPS65980 is the only solution recommended and approved for Thunderbolt bus-powered solutions, significantly reducing design time. The DC/DC switching regulator supplies up to 3.5A of output current, enabling bus-powered endpoint devices to deliver up to 10W at over 90% efficiency. Additional design flexibility is offered by automatic thermal shut-off and power sequencing.

Simplifying the power chain and speeding the design of bus-powered applications such as hard drives, solid state drives and audio and video solutions, the TPS65980 is a key component of TI’s certified Thunderbolt single port peripheral reference design. TI also offers the TPS65980EVM evaluation module, providing an easy way to evaluate device performance and operating characteristics.

Thunderbolt technology is seen as the fastest way to transfer data between a PC and peripheral and display devices. At 10Gbps full-duplex bandwidth per channel, it combines high-speed data (PCI Express) with display (DisplayPort) on a single protocol. Thunderbolt 2 combines both channels into a single 20Gbps full-duplex channel, enabling transmission of uncompressed high-bandwidth data, such as 4K video.

Available in 24-pin, 5x4x0.9mm VQFN package, the TPS65980 is priced from $2.50 (USD) in 1,000 unit quantities. The TPS65980EVM is also available for $49.00 (USD).