Date: 19/03/2009

Power monitor IC with digital I²C interface for CPU motherboards

International Rectifier has launched IR3725 input power monitor IC with digital I²C interface for low-voltage DC-DC converters used in energy-efficient CPU, server and storage applications.

The IR3725 monitors input power, voltage and current for 12 Volt based power supplies. The specialty of this monitor IC is instead of costly ADCs, this device uses IR's own proprietory technology called TruePower to measure and output average power during a specified interval over a serial digital interface. This information is used by the system controller to optimize overall power consumption, delivering benchmark current accuracy of 1.0 percent.


"Alternative solutions require expensive A/D converters. The IR3725, however, with its Truepower technology, is an easy to implement, highly configurable, stand alone IC that precisely measures power to optimize overall power consumption while significantly reducing total system cost," said George Schuellein, marketing director, IR's Multiphase Products, Enterprise Power Business Unit.

With a voltage accuracy of 1.5 percent, the IR3725 provides design engineers with the option to use resistive sensing or inductor DCR current sensing with an internal thermal compensation feature to increase efficiency.

Key Specifications:
Input voltage range: 8V - 23.5V
Bias Supply Voltage: +3.3V ± 5%
Operating Temperature: -10°C to 150°C
Package: 12-lead 3x4mm DFN

Availability: Now in volumes
Price: Each US $1.25 for 10K pieces
RoHS compliant: Yes