Primary-side controller talks to the DC side

A new device is billed as world's first configurable power subsystem controller with an integral datalink to primary side power management ICs.

A new device is billed as world's first configurable power subsystem controller with an integral datalink to primary side power management ICs.

Providing comprehensive power management of up to four secondary side DC/DC convertors, Potentia Semiconductor's configurable PS-2406 power subsystem controller is the first of its kind to offer a serial datalink to the company's primary side power management ICs.

The controller's ability to monitor and act on power system information on both sides of the high-voltage isolation barrier will enable designers to maximise system uptime in networking and high-availability compute and storage applications.

The PS-2406 provides all the functionality required to sequence, monitor and accurately trim customer specified DC/DC convertors and to handle power system fault conditions.

Via its integral PI-Link isolated communications interface, the power subsystem controller can also receive primary side voltage, current and fuse status information from devices such as Potentia's new PS-1006.

In addition, in the event of an unrecoverable secondary side overvoltage fault, the PS-2406 can instruct the PS-1006 to shut-down the intermediate bus DC/DC convertor, thereby further protecting the card from any further damage.

The ability to configure the PS-2406 with separate thresholds that enable it to distinguish between power system warnings and power system faults means that availability-critical systems are able to maximise uptime by initiating corrective actions before an impending fault results in system downtime.

To further improve uptime, the controller can also be configured to restart automatically following a momentary shutdown.

The power subsystem controller's overvoltage and undervoltage levels, startup and shutdown thresholds, sequencing delay and trim values are simply configured using Potentia's intuitive, "point-and-click" PowerCenter Designer software.

Hardware designs, using the customer's choice of DC/DC convertors, can be validated under live load using Potentia's PowerCenter emulation platform.

The PS-2406 is programmed via its I2C interface or JT port and configuration data is stored in the device's on-chip nonvolatile memory.

All configuration data and monitored power rail voltages are readily accessible to a higher-level processor through the I2C interface, through which power sequencing can also be controlled.

The 48-pin QFP packaged PS-2406 also provides four general purpose I/O pins.

Able to be mapped as hardware enable inputs or "power good" outputs, these can be allocated to any of the four monitored power rails or to the intermediate power bus.

The GPIO can also be configured to indicate primary side status as reported by the PS-1006.

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