LDO boosts battery operating times

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Nov 26, 2001

National Semiconductor has a new 250mA low dropout (LDO) regulator that increases operating time for wireless, laptop and PDA applications.

National Semiconductor has a new 250mA low dropout (LDO) regulator that increases operating time for wireless, laptop and PDA applications.

This new device provides low power dissipation, high power supply rejection ratio (PSRR), low dropout voltage, ultra-low noise as well as design flexibility and easy system management.

National's LP2992 LDO offers two key enhancements over the popular LP2985 family: lower dropout and higher current capability.

Improvements in dropout voltage allow National's customers to architect systems that discharge batteries to the lowest possible level.

This creates additional operating time for end-user applications, which include wireless and handheld portable battery-powered systems, handheld meters, cellular phones, pagers, PDAs, laptops and global positioning satellite (GPS) systems.

Building on the popular characteristics of its predecessor, the new high performance LP2992 LDO regulator features dropout voltage of 250mV at 150mA; output voltage accuracy of +/-1.0%; low output capacitor requirements; and overtemperature and overcurrent protection.

"National Semiconductor continues to lead the linear and LDO regulator market by providing designers with the right power supply for design efficiency and fast time-to-market", said Monika Abele, product marketing engineer in the Power Management Group at National Semiconductor.

"This product will be key for customers whose current requirements have unexpectedly grown beyond 150mA and now need a pin to pin replacement for the LP2985.

The LP2992 will also be valuable for customers requiring only 150mA current capability who need improvements in dropout voltage over the LP2985".

The LP2992 is offered in a cost-effective SOT-23-5 package and leadless leadframe package (LLP).

The LLP package will be available later especially for applications that require additional power dissipation.

The LP2992 in the LLP package will give system designers a versatile, aggressively priced, small form factor LDO voltage regulator with a full feature set.

National's new LP2992 LDO regulator is now available in the SOT-23-5 packaging and is priced at $0.39 each in 1000 units.