New Generation of Multi-Time Programmable Power Management ICs

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Built-in configurability speeds time to market for solid-state drives, video, router, mobile and IoT devices

New multi-time programmable family of power management ICs (PMICs), the ACT88327 and ACT88329 are optimised for high performance and compact form-factor designs.

The Constant-On-Time (COT) PMIC family accelerates time to market by delivering design flexibility for multiple applications, from SSD cards, computer vision such as security cameras and routers to low-power mobile uses (LPDDR5), home control and voice-assisted devices. The same base part can be used to support different end products simply by changing the PMIC configuration without special software or firmware. Manufacturers can debug their design and change settings in real-time without changing external components.

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The new PMICs integrate five voltage rails, a sequencer and seven configurable General Purpose IOs (GPIOs) in small 2.18 x 2.58 mm 30-ball WLCSP package. Each PMIC includes three DC-DC step down converters using integrated power FETs and two low-dropout regulators (LDOs). All are highly configurable via the I2C interface. 

Other configurations include:

• Buck1 and LDO1 that can be configured as a load switch
• Buck1 is a peak current mode, fixed frequency DC-DC step down converter that is optimised for output voltage closest to the input voltage
• Buck1 switches at either 1.125 MHz or 2.25 MHz, requiring only three small components for operation
• Buck2 and Buck3 use an asynchronous constant on-time, ACOT, control architecture to optimise the load transient response with smaller output capacitors
• All Bucks work with 0.47uH inductor and require only three small components for operation
• LDO1 can support up to 390mA and 1A current in bypass mode
• Both LDOs require only small ceramic capacitors

The ACT88329 is an integrated PMIC in this configuration to support output voltage as low as 0.5V for low output applications like LPDDR5.

The ACT88327/8/9/1 PMIC family has multiple GPIOs that can be configured for different features and purposes like interrupt, reset, external enable, external PG, regulator ON/OFF, DVS, VID, sleep/deep sleep modes, power recycle and push button. 

Also, they support two-level input voltage monitoring. Other examples of configurable options in the PMIC family include startup time, slew rate, system-level sequencing, switching frequency, sleep modes and operating modes. 

The ACT88327 and ACT88329 are available now from Qorvo.