Meeting infotainment power demands

While in-cabin automotive data and display get much of the attention, behind-the-scenes power management is vital to achieving reliable, effective operation

Key points:
• The automobile “radio head unit” in the console and instrument cluster is an increasingly crowded place supporting many electronic functions.
• Providing the various required DC power rails is a difficult challenge, with most designers resorting to a complicated, diverse mix of regulators.
• Ensuring that these regulators meet the stringent requirements for electrical, thermal, and EMI performance (voltage load dumps and transients, wide-temperature operation, and low noise generation) is a major design challenge.
• Maxim offers two highly integrated regulators optimized for automotive design, with superior voltage, temperature, and EMI performance: the MAX16993, providing one high-voltage and two low-voltage outputs; and the MAX16930, providing two high-voltage outputs supported by a preboost regulator.