Easy-to-use and compact point-of-load power suppliesare necessary in systems with widely distributed, highcurrent, low voltage loads. The LTC®3415 provides acompact, simple and versatile solution. It includes a pairof integrated complementary power MOSFETs (32mΩtop and 25mΩ bottom) and requires no external senseresistor. A complete design requires an inductor andinput/output capacitors, and that’s it. The result is a fast,constant frequency, 7A current mode DC/DC switchingregulator.
Automobile electronic systems place high demands ontoday’s DC/DC converters. They must be able to preciselyregulate an output voltage in the face of wide temperatureand input voltage ranges—including load dump transientsin excess of 60V and cold crank voltage drops to 4V. Theconverter must also be able to minimize battery drain inalways-on systems by maintaining high effi ciency over abroad load current range. Similar demands are made bymany 48V nonisolated telecom applications, 40V FireWireperipherals and battery-powered applications with autoplug adaptors. The LT3437’s best in classperformancemeets all of these requirements in a small thermallyenhanced 3mm × 3mm DFN package.
To this day, Power over Ethernet (PoE) continues to gainpopularity in today’s networking world. The 12.95Wdelivered to the Powered Device (PD) input supplied bythe Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) is a universal supply.Each PD provides its own DC/DC conversion from anominal 48V supply, thus eliminating the need for a correctvoltage wall adapter. However, higher power devicescan not take advantage of standard PoE because of itspower limitations, and must rely on a large wall adapteras their primary supply. The new LTC4268-1 breaks thispower barrier by allowing for power of up to 35W for suchpower-hungry 2-pair PoE applications. The LTC4268-1provides a complete solution by integrating a high powerPD interface control with an isolated fl yback controller.
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.
Alkaline batteries are convenient because they’re easy tofi nd and relatively inexpensive, making them the powersource of choice for portable instruments and devicesused for outdoor recreation. Their long shelf life alsomakes them an excellent choice for emergency equipmentthat may see infrequent use but must be ready to go on amoment’s notice. It is important that the DC/DC convertersin portable devices operate over the widest possiblebattery voltage range to extend battery run time, and thussave the user from frequent battery replacement.