Monitors guarantee power system accuracy

Devices incorporate four precision comparators with 0.6V references to monitor separate voltage rails.

Analog Devices reckons its ADM1184 and ADM1186 quad voltage-monitor and sequencer ICs are twice as precise as competing devices, offering best-in-class accuracy (better than +/-0.8%).

The ADM1184 and ADM1186 also complete the industry's only monitor and sequencer family to deliver better than +/-1% accuracy for up to 12 power supplies.

The new ICs are designed for today's advanced data and telecommunications infrastructure equipment, which is driven by extremely powerful processors with ever-lower core-voltage supplies.

With unprecedented accuracy, the ADM1184 and ADM1186 precisely monitor processor cores to ensure they operate within voltage tolerance specifications, allowing power and system engineers to maximise system uptime and optimise system performance.

"As the operating level of ASICs, DSPs, FPGAs and other processing cores drops to 1V and below, the ability to reliably monitor low-voltage core supplies is becoming more difficult", says John Perzow, Marketing Director for Fixed Power Products, Analog Devices.

"This creates the potential for undervoltage conditions that can result in lost data and system failure".

By improving accuracy to less than +/-0.8%, the ADM1184 and the ADM1186 meet today's more demanding processor monitoring requirements, which promote safer, more reliable and better optimised system operation in sensitive, high-availability applications, such as wireless communications equipment.

Competitive multiple-voltage monitors and sequencers typically achieve a +/-1.5% accuracy level, at best, which does not meet modern processor requirements for monitoring low-voltage core supplies with a low tolerance and narrow band of operation.

With industry-leading accuracy, a high level of functional integration, and a small package size, the ADM1184 and ADM1186 incorporate four precision comparators with 0.6V references to monitor separate voltage rails.

The new ICs operate on a 2.7 to 5.5V power supply and include four inputs that can be programmed to monitor different voltage levels using external dividers.

Additionally, the ADM1186 allows power-up and power-down sequencing in hardware, eliminating the need for software support and further increasing system reliability by ensuring that the voltage supply rails are powered up and down in the correct order and within tolerance.

The ADM1184 and ADM1186 are available now in production quantities.

The ADM1184 is priced at US $2.39 per unit in 1000-piece quantities and comes in a space-saving 10-lead MSOP (mini-small-outline package).

The ADM1186-1 is priced at US $3.80 per unit in 1000-piece quantities and comes in 20-lead QSSOP (quarter-size small outline package).

The ADM1186-2 is priced at US $2.98 per unit in 1000-piece quantities and comes in a 16-lead QSSOP.

Stand-alone and in-system application boards also are available to facilitate product evaluation.

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