A recent trend in the design of portable devices has beento use ceramic capacitors to filter DC/DC converter inputs.Ceramic capacitors are often chosen because of theirsmall size, low equivalent series resistance (ESR) and highRMS current capability. Also, recently, designers havebeen looking to ceramic capacitors due to shortages oftantalum capacitors.
The LTM4600 DC/DC μModule regulator is a complete highpower density stepdown regulator for 10A continuous (14Apeak) loads. The device has two voltage options: 20VINmaximum for the LTM4600EV and 28VIN maximum for theLTM4600HVEV each housed in a small 15mm ¥ 15mm ¥2.8mm LGA surface mount package.
The design of battery-powered equipment can often bequite challenging. Since few ICs can operate directly fromthe end-of-life voltage from a 2-cell battery (about 1.8V),most systems require a DC/DCconverter. The systemdesigner often has a limited area in which to place the DC/DC converter; associated inductors and capacitors must be
The latest generation of Texas Instruments (TI) boardmountedpower modules utilizes a pin interconnect technologythat improves surface-mount manufacturability.These modules are produced as a double-sided surfacemount(DSSMT) subassembly, yielding a case-less constructionwith subcomponents located on both sides of theprinted circuit board (PCB). Products produced in theDSSMT outline use the latest high-efficiency topologiesand magnetic-component packaging. This providescustomers with a high-efficiency, ready-to-use switchingpower module in a compact, space-saving package. Bothnonisolated point-of-load (POL) switching regulators andthe isolated dc/dc converter modules are being producedin the DSSMT outline.TI’s plug-in power product line offers power modules inboth through-hole and surface-mount packages. The surfacemountmodules produced in the DSSMT outline use asolid copper interconnect with an integral solder ball fortheir