Power

Toshiba Electronics Europe (TEE) has announced it will launch a Li-ion battery monitor chipset for automotive applications. Toshiba will start sample shipments of this chipset in February 2013, and mass production in April 2014.

Dialog Semiconductor has launched the most integrated configurable power management IC (PMIC) for ARM quad-core and dual-core application processors to date. The DA9063 can deliver up to 12A from its six DC/DC converters, 24% more than its nearest rivals. It simultaneously powers the processor (the core at up to 5A plus other processor supplies), external memories, wireless communications (WLAN and Bluetooth), GPS and FM receivers, and data modems.

Ericsson has unveiled an advanced industry-first toolkit that provides board-power designers with highly advanced software to configure, implement and monitor power conversion devices, from a single unit to a complete system, including the Ericsson 3E digital Point-Of-Load (POL) regulators, 3E Advanced Bus Converters (ABCs) and 3E Power Interface Modules (PIMs). Called the ‘Ericsson DC/DC Digital Power Designer’, the software is free of charge and can reduce time-to-market, total cost of ownership and overall energy consumption.

ZMD AG (ZMDI), a Dresden-based semiconductor company that specialises in energy-efficient solutions, has released the ZSPM9060, a next-generation, fully optimised, ultra-compact, integrated MOSFET-plus-driver (DrMOS) power stage solution for energy-efficient, high-current, high-frequency, synchronous buck DC-DC applications.

New from Torex Semiconductor the XC9246/XC9247 series is a non-synchronous step-down DC/DC Converter with internal LDMOS N-ch driver. It incorporates an integral bootstrap step-up circuit and the Lx and gate of the N-ch driver operate in phase to reduce high-frequency noise normally associated with older P-ch models.

Advanced Power Electronics (USA), a Taiwanese manufacturer of MOS power semiconductors for DC-DC power conversion applications, has updated two of its more popular PWM controllers in a move designed to provide customers with space saving and more cost effective devices without impacting either performance or reliability.

Linear Technology has unveiled the LTC6804 high voltage battery monitor for hybrid electric and electric vehicles, and other high voltage, stacked-battery systems. The device can measure up to 12 series connected battery cells at voltages up to 4.2V with 16 bit resolution and better than 0.04% accuracy. According to Linear this high precision is maintained over time, temperature and operating conditions by a sub-surface Zener voltage reference similar to references used in precision instrumentation.

Omron Electronic Components Europe has unveiled what it says is the world’s smallest and lightest high capacity DC power relay, aimed specifically at hybrid and fuel cell cars and other electric vehicles. The relay is also suitable for other DC power applications in renewable energy and industrial systems.

Ericsson is looking to assist system architects who are developing equipment for computing-intensive environments such as datacenters. The increasing demand for more Internet services and cloud computing is driving both the expansion and building of new datacenters around the world and as a result a key challenge for operators is the minimisation of energy expenditure at the board level.

HiTek Power, a manufacturer of standard and custom-designed high-voltage power supplies, has developed a series of designs for mass spectrometry applications, and is set to introduce the first of a number of families of standard modules for this market.