ORing power controllers improve power distribution

The TPW241x family of ORing power controllers has advanced features to improve power distribution in 12V blade servers, N+1 telecom systems and redundant low-voltage processor power supplies.

Texas Instruments' TPS241x family of ORing power controllers with advanced features to improve power distribution in 12V blade servers, N+1 telecom systems and redundant low-voltage processor power supplies.

The integrated circuits provide a high-efficiency replacement for ORing diodes, and offer intelligent monitoring and control of power supplies to prevent bus transient events from causing board-damaging faults or voltage spikes during operation.

TI will demonstrate the new controllers at the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC), 26th February - 1st March 2007 in Anaheim, California.

The TPS241x controllers support input voltages of 3 to 18V, and can control power supply voltages down to 0.8V.

When used with a low RDSON N-channel MOSFET, the controllers significantly increase system efficiency and reduce power dissipation compared with today's standard ORing diode solutions.

The TPS241x devices manage power distribution to multiple supplies, while protecting the system from potentially dangerous reverse-current or transient events by providing an extremely fast turn-off response of 130ns.

In addition, the controllers have a programmable turn-off threshold and an input-filtering function to protect the power supply's integrity, especially when the system must adjust to various bus characteristics caused by extreme and heavy-use operating conditions.

The TPS2410 and TPS2412 controllers incorporate linear gate control, giving power system designers greater flexibility to implement ORing in high-power applications.

The TPS2411 and TPS2413 controllers make use of on/off gate control to support low-power buses that may experience large transient steps.

The TPS241x family of power controllers is available now in volume production from TI and its authorised distributors.

The devices come in a 14-pin, plastic, thin small-outline package.

Suggested resale pricing for the TPS2410 and TPS2411 is US $1.70 each in quantities of 1,000 units.

The low-cost TPS2412 and TPS2413 versions, which come in an 8-pin, thin small-outline package, are $1.20 each in quantities of 1,000.

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