Texas Instruments announced a 1.5-A DC/DC step-down converter that supports from 3.1 V to 17 V of input voltage. The device achieves 95 percent power efficiency to extend battery life in industrial handhelds, portable test equipment and consumer devices powered by two- to three-cell lithium-based batteries or a 12-V power source.
The TPS62110 synchronous, step-down converter with integrated FETs comes in a lead-free, 4 mm x 4 mm QFN package. The device, which leverages TI’s new LBC7 analog process manufacturing technology, is able to maintain high efficiency over a wide load current range by entering a power-saving pulse-frequency modulation (PFM) mode at light load currents and supporting output voltages from 16 V down to 1.2 V. The converter can be placed in a shut down mode, reducing power consumption to less than 2µA.
The TPS62110 can be synchronized to an external clock signal between 0.8 MHz and 1.4 MHz. For even lower noise operation, the converter can operate in a pulse-width modulation- (PWM) only mode.
TI complements the TPS62110 with its new DC/DC boost inverter in a 3 mm x 3 mm QFN package, the TPS63700. The inverter provides an 800-mA typical switch current limit and converts an input of 2.7 V to 5.5 V to an output voltage as low as -15 V. The TPS63700 is ideal for precision amplifiers and data converters used in industrial applications that require both positive and negative power supply voltages, such as TI’s OPA277 or ADS8342 devices.
The TPS6211x family of converters is available today in volume from TI and its authorized distributors. The TPS6211x DC/DC converters come in a 16-pin, QFN package, and are priced at $2.50 each in quantities of 1,000 units. The TPS63700 inverter is currently sampling with volume production expected in September 2005.
