Date: 26/11/2012

Most power efficient 4x4mm switching regulator delivers 0.6-18VDC at 6 Amperes

Do you need 4- 6 Amperes of output current and regulated voltage of 0.6 to 18 Volts DC from an unregulated DC source of 4.5 to 20V, there are good number of Power ICs for this requirement. But you need a small size solution and with power efficiency of >95% at different load and regulation conditions, than check out newly launched switching regulator IC chips from Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). ADI has unveiled ADP2384 4-A and ADP2386 6-A, 20-V dc-to-dc regulators converting unregulated to regulated DC at efficiency of greater than 95 percent in a compact total power unit size of 168mm2. The ADP2384/86 regulators accepts a wide input-voltage range of 4.5 V to 20 V and delivers an output range of 0.6 V up to 18 V with 1 percent voltage accuracy. The accurate current limit protection allows the use of smaller inductors, which helps to minimize board space. The ADP2384/86 regulators provide a precision-enable input and a power-good output to allow a simple and reliable start-up sequence.

The ADP2384/86 is said to offer excellent stability and transient response to minimize the output voltage ripple. The switching frequency of the regulators can be synchronized to an external clock to eliminate beat frequencies between regulators. The ADP2384/86 operate over the -40°C to +125°C junction temperature range and are available in compact 4 mm × 4 mm 24-lead LFCSP packages.

ADP2384 and ADP2386 are pin-to-pin compatible with each other and are immediately available in sample and production volumes.

The part number ADP2386ACPZN-R7 of size 4 mm × 4 mm in 24-lead LFCSP package is priced (indication) at $2.04 per piece for 1K units. The evaluation solution is also available at $60.