Date: 22/09/2009

New PowerXR family programmable power system ICs from Exar

Exar has released two new PowerXR system-level solutions of high-integrated field programmable power regulator ICs, the XRP7704, a 5Amp/channel regulator, and the XRP7740 a 16 Amp/channel version. These two power ICs integrate the digital power management and control, the robust power capabilities of analog switching power supplies.

The key features of the two power ICs are,

Operating input voltage range from 6.5V to 20V and an opearting output voltage range from 0.9V to 5.0V, with a built-in Low-Drop Out (LDO) for standby power, power sequencing capability, and integrated gate drivers.
The 5-output ICs each contain four digital pulse width modulator (DPWM) controlled power supplies with 12-bit resolution.
Helps to configure the power supply's voltage setting and current thresholds, fault monitoring and response, soft start and active shut-down timing, and channel sequencing, phase shift management, and loop response.

The XRP7704 and XRP7740 use a digital PID (proportional, integral, differential) control algorithm that performs full-digital loop control at switching frequencies to 1.5 MHz. The controller supports I²C interface commands for control, configuration, and management of the power supply.

"The XRP7704 and the XRP7740 are the first 5-channel power-system ICs to combine high performance analog technology with advanced, high-speed, proprietary digital control circuitry," said Tim Maloney, senior director, Marketing. "These ICs deliver on the promise of Digital Power by providing engineers with a cost effective configurable power solution. Additionally, Exar's Digital Power Studio , an easy-to-use software environment, enables the creation of complex sequencing schemes and power systems, theoretically possible with analog, but too expensive to implement. We are encouraged by early market adoption - clearly our customers understand the value."

"Digital power has reached price parity with pure analog solutions, with growing adoption of digital power in high-volume and cost-sensitive consumer devices," said Linnea Brush, senior research analyst, Darnell Group. "Exar's digital PowerXR solution targets these markets with real-time diagnostics and reconfigurability."

Operating temperature range: -40ºC to +85ºC for both the ICs
Package:
XRP7704, XRP7740: "green"/halogen free 40-pin QFN package

Price:
XRP7704: Each $4.00 for 1K pieces
XRP7740: Each $5.50 for 1K pieces
Availability:
XRP7704: Now in samples
XRP7740: Will be available within 30 days

For more details visit www.exar.com