PMICs deliver small size and high efficiency

By Heather Hamilton, contributing writer

Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. recently introduced several new power-management ICs (PMICs), aimed at helping automotive designers deal with power consumption, efficiency, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) challenges. The new MAX20004/6/8, MAX20034, and MAX20098 offer low quiescent current, improved noise performance, and EMI mitigation for digital instrument clusters and radio head units.

There’s certainly a need for lower power consumption. Digital instrument clusters, radio head units, and electronic subsystems rely on lots of power. Designers face other challenges, including a need for higher efficiency, EMI protection, and a smaller solution size in automotive operating environments.

Maxim’s high-power buck converters and multi-phase buck controllers provide a variety of options for DC power management in a small size (3.5 × 3.75 mm). The buck converters are housed in flip-chip quad-flat no-lead packages, which reduces high-frequency switch-node ringing and eliminates bond wires to lower MOSFET switch on-resistance. It also increases efficiency.

Maxim said that it offers the industry’s only pin-compatible parts for 4, 6, and 8 A for flexible power regulation. All of the PMICs feature spread-spectrum modulation, forced pulse-width modulation, skip-mode operation, and high switching frequency.

Here are the new parts:

• The MAX20004, MAX20006, and MAX20008 are 4-A, 6-A, and 8-A high-voltage (40-V tolerant) synchronous buck converters with integrated high-side and low-side MOSFETs, offering low switch resistance of 38 and 18 mΩ, respectively, for high efficiency. Key specs include 25-µA quiescent current, operating input voltages from 3.5 V to 36 V, and 93% peak efficiency.
• The MAX20098 is a 220-kHz to 2.2-MHz synchronous buck controller for applications with mid- to high-power requirements. Key specs include input voltages from 3.5 V to 36 V (42-V tolerant), a quiescent current of 3.5 µA in skip mode at 3.3-V output, and a 1-µA typical shutdown current specification.
• The MAX20034 is a 220-kHz to 2.2-MHz dual synchronous buck controller for high-voltage applications operating with input voltages from 3.5 V to 36 V (42-V tolerant), wherein one regulator will operate as a fixed 5-V or 3.3-V output and the other output is adjustable between 1 V to 10 V. Key specs include a 17-µA quiescent current in skip mode and 6.5-µA typical shutdown current.

EE-Sim models are available.