Date: 16/03/2011

National Semiconductor launches tool to design processor power supply

National Semiconductor Corp. has introduced its new WEBENCH Processor Power Architect, the design tool to very quickly model and optimize power supplies for ARM core based processor chips made by Atmel and Freescale Semiconductor. National says this is first such software tool in the market.

National said its new WEBENCH Processor Power Architect design tool, supporting its latest high-efficiency point-of-load regulators and SIMPLE SWITCHER modules, will be demonstrated in its booth throughout Avnet Electronics Marketing's global technical seminar series, with stops in North America, Europe and Asia through September 2011.

WEBENCH Processor Power Architect incorporates the detailed supply requirements of more than 50 of the newest ARM processors from Atmel and Freescale. Modern power supply systems, including ARM processors, are complex to design, often incorporating multiple unique loads to drive precisely specified voltages. In addition to the required voltages and currents, each load may have specific limitations for ripple, noise filtering, synchronization and separation of supplies, as well as start up definitions (soft start). The power supply designs delivered by WEBENCH incorporate comprehensive power requirements published by the ARM processor manufacturers, giving the designer confidence that their power supplies will meet these constraints while saving critical time in the process.

WEBENCH Processor Power Architect provides the designer with new options to reduce cost and footprint. To accommodate the low currents associated with ARM processor loads, the designer can select from over 50 low drop-out (LDO) regulators in addition to high efficiency switching regulators.

For more info visit http://national.com/processor_architect.