IVRs boast industry’s fastest transient response with no external components
Setting a new benchmark in speed of 0 to 10A in 500 nanoseconds, Empower Semiconductor’s integrated voltage regulator (IVR) EP7010 provides the fastest transient response in a power management device, claims the company. It is one of nine devices in the company’s EP70xx family. Other features of the EP70xx family are less than 15mv droop.
There are nine devices in the EP70xx family with up to three regulators per device. Outputs are available from 2.0 to 10A in a 5.0 x 5.0 or 4.0 x 4.0mm package with a 0.75mm profile. This is three to five times thinner traditional integrated power modules and inductors, says the company.
In addition to a single footprint, the absence of external components the IVRs are programmable and have a wide range of current and output configurations. Multiple power supplies in a single IC package mean that concerns of component variation and sourcing, synchronisation and stability are either eliminated or reduced significantly, says Empower.
The EP70xx IVRs integrate a triple output DC/DC power supply with no external components into a single 5.0 x 5.0mm package. The power density is up to 10 times that of leading competitors and accuracy during transients is up to three times tighter and dynamic voltage scaling is up to 1,000 times faster, says Empower Semiconductor.
“The Empower EP70xx family achieves bandwidths higher than our competitors’ switching speeds. . . . At typical load current ramp rates, our system regulates through the event instead of just trying to catch up. This dynamic accuracy, along with our incredible [dynamic voltage scaling] DVS speeds, allows our customers to confidently drop the operating voltage in their system, providing enormous power savings in addition to the impressive board space reduction,” says Trey Roessig, chief technology officer and senior vice president of engineering at Empower Semiconductor.
The tight voltage regulation, thanks to the fast load transient, lowers the system operating voltage which is tied to the system power consumption. By narrowing the window required for the voltage variation without additional components, Empower claims its IVRs enable 10 per cent or more power savings and corresponding heat dissipation. This reduces cooling costs and improves performance, says the company.
The EP70xx family displays peak efficiencies of up to 92 per cent with a nearly flat efficiency curve up through 10A of output current. The devices showcase 1,000 times faster dynamic voltage scaling than competing products, enabling fast and lossless processor state changes that can save 30 per cent or more of processor power.
The IVRs achieve a level of density and simplicity so high that they are also available in bumped die form for co-packaging with digital ICs, enabling full power management integration into an SoC.
