The core voltages for FPGAs are moving lower as a resultof advances in the fabrication process. The newest FPGAfamily from Altera, the Stratix® II, now requires a corevoltage of 1.2V and the Stratix, Stratix GX, HardCopy®Stratix and CycloneTM families require a core voltage of1.5V. This article discusses how to power the core and I/Oof low voltage FPGAs using the latest step-down switchmode controllers from Linear Technology Corporation.
The LTC®3414 offers a compact and efficient voltage regulatorsolution for point of load conversion in electronicsystems that require low output voltages (down to 0.8V)from a 2.5V to 5V power bus. Internal power MOSFETswitches, with only 67mW on-resistance, allow theLTC3414 to deliver up to 4A of output current with efficiencyas high as 94%. The LTC3414 saves space by operatingwith switching frequencies as high as 4MHz, enabling theuse of tiny inductors and capacitors.
高的工作電壓高達100V N雙N溝道MOSFET同步驅動 The D810DCDC is a synchronous step-down switching regulator controller that can directly step-down voltages from up to 100V, making it ideal for telecom and automotive applications. The D810DCDC uses a constant on-time valley current control architecture to deliver very low duty cycles with accurate cycle-by-cycle current limit, without requiring a sense resistor. A precise internal reference provides 0.5% DC accuracy. A high bandwidth (25MHz) error amplifi er provides very fast line and load transient response. Large 1Ω gate drivers allow the D810DCDC to drive multiple MOSFETs for higher current applications. The operating frequency is selected by an external resistor and is compensated for variations in VIN and can also be synchronized to an external clock for switching-noise sensitive applications. Integrated bias control generates gate drive power from the input supply during start-up and when an output shortcircuit occurs, with the addition of a small external SOT23 MOSFET. When in regulation, power is derived from the output for higher effi ciency.
Many complex systems—such as telecom equipment,memory modules, optical systems, networking equipment,servers and base stations—use FPGAs and otherdigital ICs that require multiple voltage rails that muststart up and shut down in a specific order, otherwise theICs can be damaged. The LTC®2924 is a simple andcompact solution to power supply sequencing in a 16-pinSSOP package (see Figures 1 and 2).
Automotive batteries, industrial power supplies, distributedsupplies and wall transformers are all sources ofwide-ranging high voltage inputs. The easiest way to stepdown these sources is with a high voltage monolithicstep-down regulator that can directly accept a wide inputrange and produce a well-regulated output. The LT®3493accepts inputs from 3.6V to 36V and LT3481 acceptsinputs from 3.6V to 34V. Both provide excellent lineand load regulation and dynamic response. The LT3481offers a high effi ciency solution over a wide load range andkeeps the output ripple low during Burst Mode® operationwhile the LT3493 provides a tiny solution with minimalexternal components. The LT3493 operates at 750kHzand the LT3481 has adjustable frequency from 300kHzto 2.8MHz. High frequency operation enables the use ofsmall, low cost inductors and ceramic capacitors.
Many telecommunications and computing applicationsneed high effi ciency step-down DC/DC converters thatcan operate from a very low input voltage. The highoutput power synchronous controller LT3740 is idealfor these applications, converting input supplies rangingfrom 2.2V to 22V to outputs as low as 0.8V with loadcurrents from 2A to 20A. Applications include distributedpower systems, point-of-load regulation and conversionof logic supplies.
The LTC®3562 quad output step-down regulator is designedfor multicore handheld microprocessor applications thatoperate from a single Li-Ion battery. Its four monolithic, higheffi ciency buck regulators support Intel’s mobile CPU P-Stateand C-State energy saving operating modes. The outputvoltages are independently controllable via I2C, and eachoutput can be independently started and shut down. Designerscan choose from power saving pulse-skipping mode orBurst Mode® operation, or select low noise LDO mode. Thespace-saving LTC3562 is available in a 3mm × 3mm QFNpackage and requires few external components.
Many system designers need an easy way to producea negative 3.3V power supply. In systems that alreadyhave a transformer, one option is to swap out the existingtransformer with one that has an additional secondarywinding. The problem with this solution is that manysystems now use transformers that are standard, offthe-shelf components, and most designers want toavoid replacing a standard, qualifi ed transformer with acustom version. An easier alternative is to produce thelow negative voltage rail by stepping down an existingnegative rail. For example, if the system already employsan off-the-shelf transformer with two secondary windingsto produce ±12V, and a –3.3V rail is needed, a negativebuck converter can produce the –3.3V output from the–12V rail.
Linear Technology’s DC/DC step-down μModule®regulators are complete switchmode power supplies in asurface-mount package. They include the DC/DC controller,inductor, power switches and supporting circuitry.These highly integrated regulators also provide an easysolution for applications that require negative outputvoltages. In other words, these products can operate asinverting buck-boost regulators. As a result, the lowestpotential in the circuit is not the standard 0V, but –VOUT,which must be tied to the μModule regulator’s GND. Allsignals are now referred to –VOUT.
