Digital isolators protect power and data in one

The iCoupler family of digital isolators now includes the industry's first products that provide both data and power isolation in a single package.

Analog Devices is extending its industry-leading family of iCoupler digital isolators with the industry's first products that provide both data and power isolation in a single package.

Unlike existing solutions that require the configuration of separate signal and power circuitry involving multiple components, this advancement provides designers of industrial, instrumentation, and power systems with a simple, low-cost, space-saving alternative.

The products incorporate ADI's new proprietary isoPower technology that integrates a micropower supply with independent signal channels.

This eliminates the need for complex, sizeable, and costly combinations of optocouplers, transformers and other components, thereby reducing cost by as much as 70% and board space by as much as 80%.

The ADuM5240, ADuM5241 and ADuM5242 are dual channel isolators incorporating isoPower technology.

These new products, provided in 8-lead SOIC (small-outline integrated circuit) packaging, integrate an isolated power supply with two digital signal channels to create a complete isolation solution for low-power applications found in factory automation equipment, instrumentation, and secondary control power supplies.

In such applications, where designers are under great pressure to reduce size, cost and development time, the ADuM524x product family simplifies the challenge of isolated designs with a single-component solution.

As with all iCoupler products, these new devices will carry regulatory safety approvals from the major North American and European agencies on product release.

"ADI's iCoupler digital isolation products have a solid five-year track record of safe, reliable operation in a wide variety of applications".

"Since 2001 when we first introduced the breakthrough iCoupler products, which proved far superior to optocouplers, iCoupler usage has grown to more than 50 million isolation channels in the field", said Dick Meaney, Vice President, Precision Signal Processing Group, Analog Devices.

"We are now leveraging our iCoupler technology to solve a challenging problem: isolating power along with data in a small space at a low cost".

"Our new iCoupler products with isoPower capabilities enable customers to achieve these savings as well as reduce development time".

The ADuM524x products incorporate the isoPower technology, which integrates an isolated DC/DC convertor with two channels of digital signal isolation in an 8-lead SOIC.

Intended for low-power applications, the integrated DC/DC convertor provides up to 50mW of isolated, regulated power at 5V.

The ADuM524x devices operate with a supply voltage ranging from 2.7 to 5.5V with the internal DC/DC convertor enabled at supply voltages above 4.5V.

The signal channels have excellent timing specifications with propagation delay less than ns and channel-to-channel matching better than 3ns.

All three ADuM24x products carry a 2.5kV isolation rating.

Each product varies by the directionality of each channel.

The ADuM5240 has two signal outputs on the same side as the power output.

The ADuM5241, with signal channels in each direction, is ideal for bidirectional communications, such as an RS232 transceiver, that require isolated power for interface electronics.

The ADuM5242, with the two signal outputs on the same side as the power input, is ideal for power supply applications that employ secondary side control and require isolated power to initiate startup.

Isolation devices are used in a wide range of applications to protect people and equipment from unsafe voltage levels and disruptive noise sources.

Analog Devices' iCoupler isolation technology employs chip-scale, micro-transformers in contrast to the LEDs and photodiodes used in optocouplers.

compared with optocouplers, iCoupler products consume less power, achieve higher datarates and provide more precise timing, yet still provide isolation ratings of up to 5kV.

Because the micro-transformer structures are integrated on semiconductor substrates, iCoupler products can achieve high levels of integration enabling greater functionality, smaller sise and lower cost.

Underscoring the scalability and flexibility of the iCoupler technology, isoPower is the latest development in ADI's digital isolation product portfolio.

The ADuM524x digital isolators are sampling to lead customers now with samples to the open market scheduled for July 2006.

Each of the three devices is available in Pb-free 8-lead SOIC (small-outline integrated circuit) packaging and are priced at $2.95 per unit in 1000-piece quantities.

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