Buck controller brings digital support to desktop for Intel VR11.x designs

Buck controller brings digital support to desktop for Intel VR11.x designs

Voltage regulator device is completed with MOSFET gate driver

The CHL8100 is the first in a family of digital/mixed-signal, multiphase buck converter controller. It offers integrated digital control techniques that support core voltage and load requirements, and enables flexibility for Intel VR11.x processors while reducing resistor and capacitor component count, shrinking board space requirements, and minimizing thermal management issues.

Introduced at the same time is the CHL8500 high-frequency dual-MOSFET gate driver that complements the buck digital controller. Each MOSFET driver can drive a 3-nF load with a 3-A sink current, and supports switching frequencies up to 1 MHz. It features a high-speed interface to optimize system transient response.

The buck controller helps reduce component count by as many as 40 devices and bill-of-materials costs by more than 10%. It targets voltage regulator designs using up to four interleaved synchronous buck phases and can deliver up to 150 A. Designers can digitally configure the switching frequency of each phase from 200 kHz up to 1 MHz. Device parameters are embedded in nonvolatile memory to optimize designs without changing external components. A power designer GUI helps access, set, modify, and monitor design parameters. A current-balancing algorithm automatically balances current across each phase during dc as well as transient operation. The controller generates a PWM frequency using a digital clock to reduce jitter and noise. (Ea/1,000: CHL8100; $1.49; CHL8500 $0.39 — available now.)

CHiL Semiconductor , Tewksbury , MA
Information 978-640-0011
http://www.chilsemi.com