By Majeed Ahmad, contributing writer
The new AC/DC linear regulator from Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) claims to offer 75% higher efficiency and two times the power density compared to other linear regulators. The TPS7A78 , the latest addition to TI’s broad portfolio of over 500 linear regulators, features low standby power and tamper-proof design.
What’s unique about TPS7A78? For a start, it achieves the best balance between high efficiency and ultra-low noise while shrinking the power supply size. The TPS7A78 linear regulator uses a unique switched-capacitor architecture to eliminate discrete components, including external inductors and transformers and miniature circuit breakers and interrupters.
The TPS7A78 is a non-isolated linear regulator that delivers up to 0.5 W from AC to DC with smaller and fewer components. TI claims that the switched-capacitor architecture can eliminate up to 26 discrete components, including the bridge rectifier. Moreover, it reduces capacitor size by 25% compared to traditional capacitor-drop solutions.
That, in turn, optimizes regulation through an active bridge, switch capacitor, and integrated low-dropout regulator (LDO). This smart design leads to higher efficiency and reduced capacitor size compared to linear regulators in traditional capacitor-drop solutions utilizing a Zener diode.
TI is targeting this linear regulator at tamper-resistant designs in applications such as electronic metering in grid infrastructure and building automation. TPS7A78 is free of costly magnetic shielding and meets the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61000-4-8 standard required by applications such as electronic metering.
The TPS7A78 linear regulator comes in a 14-pin, 5 × 6.5-mm thin-shrink small-outline package (TSSOP) and is priced in small reels at $1.00 in 1,000-unit quantities. Power management reference designs are available.
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