Texas Instruments claims smallest 6A, 17V step-down DC/DC converter

Extending its family of easy-to-use SWIFT power management ICs, Texas Instruments has introduced what it says is the industry’s smallest single-chip, 6-A, 17-V step-down synchronous switcher with integrated FETs. The high-performance TPS54620 is 60 percent smaller than today’s multi-chip converters, resulting in a complete 6-A power solution less than 195 mm2 -- one-fourth the size of a postage stamp. The 1.6-MHz monolithic DC/DC converter supports input voltages from 4.5 to 17 V, allowing it to manage space-constrained 5-V and 12-V point-of-load designs, such as a wireless base station or high-density server.

“As telecommunications designs become more dense and complex, they need more integrated, highly efficient power management devices that support a 12-V power rail,” said Steve Anderson, senior vice president of TI’s Power Management business unit. “We continue to develop smaller, more robust SWIFT converters, so designers can more quickly develop differentiated products for the market.”

In addition to size improvements, the TPS54620 offers a high degree of performance and reliability, such as a highly accurate voltage reference with +/- one percent accuracy over temperature. Achieving a 95-percent power conversion efficiency and a 25 percent lower Rds(on) than previous 6-A SWIFT devices, the converter easily powers deep sub-micron TI digital signal processors (DSPs) and other embedded processors, such as FPGAs and ASICs.