Product category:
Power Supply ICs and Controllers
News Release from: Summit Microelectronics | Subject: SMT4004A
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 05 September 2003
Power supply controller on the right
track
The SMT4004A is a four-channel, truly differential tracking power supply controller that is supplemented with comprehensive monitoring and supervisory functions.
The SMT4004A is a four-channel, truly differential tracking power supply controller that is supplemented with comprehensive monitoring and supervisory functions It adds to Summit's growing family of differential tracking power supply controllers
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 23 Apr 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Hot-swap controller handles distributed power
Summit Microelectronics has a distributed power hot-swap controller for use in communications equipment add-in line cards.
Hot-swap controller protects distributed power
The SMH4802 is a fully integrated programmable hot swap controller for -48V power supplies.
Typical applications for the device include server, networking and communications equipment where carrier-class availability (ie 99.999% up-time) is required.
The SMT4004A is configurable to differentially track up to four power supplies, typically within 100mV of each other, as they follow a selected 100, 250, 500 or 1000V/s internally generated ramp during power up or power down.
This assures that processor, ASIC and FPGA multirail components in the user's circuit do not latch up and experience immediate destruction or later reliability problems.
Further reading
Low-cost tracking for multiple-voltage systems
A novel two-channel device limits the voltage differential between power supply channels to less than 100mV while controlling their ramp rate during power-up and -down to an internally set rate.
Power manager takes on six convertors
The SMM665 is a six-channel active controller that includes both sequencing and margining functions.
Controllers keep tight rein on POL voltage
The SMM105 and 205 single- and dual-channel intelligent voltage controllers are the latest additions to the ADOC product family of active voltage controllers.
The differential voltage between the two supplies must be held to a small voltage (around 300mV for some advanced DSP devices).
Summit's tracking controllers provide true differential tracking both on and off with guaranteed matching between supplies to protect devices.
Some approaches that are touted in the market as embodying tracking, but which really do not track, put these sensitive circuits in jeopardy because they do not monitor/control both the power source and load of each supply.
The SMT4004A operates from any one of the four power supply voltages down to 2.7V and can control supplies as low as 0.9V.
Four independent resets, two interrupts, a forced-shutdown circuit-breaker function, and crowbar shutdown functions are selectable and programmable by the user.
The SMT4004A provides 256 x 8bit of nonvolatile memory to the user, and is accessed using the popular I2C bus to exercise complete control of the board's power characteristics.
The device can therefore be programmed during production, or each time the board is booted up, or during normal operation "on the fly".
To speed user product development using the SMT4004A and Summit's other programmable products, Summit offers customers the SMX3200 programming system.
This is a complete development system that lets designers easily manipulate the characteristics of their system.
The SMX3200 design kit includes menu-driven Microsoft Windows graphical user interface (GUI) software to automate programming tasks and also includes the necessary hardware to interface to the parallel port of a laptop or PC.
Once a user completes design and prototyping, the SMX3200 automatically generates a HEX data file that can be transmitted to Summit for review and approval.
Summit then assigns a unique customer identification code to the HEX file and programs the customer's production devices prior to final electrical test operations.
This ensures the device will operate properly in the end application.
The design kit software can be downloaded today from Summit's website.
An evaluation card containing the SMT4004A controller, support circuitry, and a port for "plug and play" programming via the SMX3200 dongle interface are available.
Available in volume quantities today, the SMT4004A comes in a 48-pin TQFP surface-mount package.
Commercial temperature range pricing is $8.65 in 10,000-unit quantities.
• Summit Microelectronics: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
