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new products
R3™ modulation technology to extend battery life and
deliver acoustic noise-free operation, superior light-load
efficiency and ultra-fast transient response.
The ISL9238 and ISL9238A operate in forward buck,
boost or buck-boost mode to fast charge mobile battery
packs with up to 4-cell Li-ion batteries. They also support
USB 3.1 On-The-Go (OTG) with 5V/20V reverse buck,
boost or buck-boost mode to deliver power out of a
USB-C port for charging external devices such as
smartphones, headphones or virtual reality goggles.
At maximum power, both ICs provide 20V at 5A to the
USB-C port for delivery of power up to 100W over a
reversible USB Type-C connector cable. The ISL9238A
features the same capabilities as the ISL9238, but also
includes a different SMBus address for OEMs that want
to use both ICs to design systems with dual USB-C
ports.
In charging mode, the ISL9238 and ISL9238A take
input power from a wide range of DC power sources,
including AC/DC charger adapters, USB power delivery
(PD) ports and any travel adapter. Both chargers
include SMBus and I2C programmable features such
as depleted battery trickle charging, and a two-level
adapter current limit for turbo-mode events where the
charger takes advantage of the adapter’s milliseconds
of surge current capability to minimize power draw and
extend battery run-time. The ISL9238 and ISL9238A
also feature programmable autonomous charging and
an end of charge safety timer to stop battery charging.
“The new ISL9238/A USB-C buck-boost battery
chargers give our customers more features, including
5V/20V reverse buck, boost and buck-boost modes,
and the ability to add dual ports for two USB-C battery
chargers in one system,” said Andrew Cowell, senior
vice president of Mobile Power Products at Intersil.
“Mobile computing OEMs rely on Intersil to consistently
deliver power management innovations that help them
differentiate their products with thinner form factors and
exceptionally long battery life.”
The ISL9238 and ISL9238A are pin-compatible with the
ISL9237 USB-C battery charger and join Intersil’s family
of mobile computing power management solutions,
including the ISL95852 Vcore PMIC, ISL95908
peripheral PMIC, and discrete PWM controllers
(ISL95853/54/55/57). These ICs power IMVP8-
compliant mobile systems using 6th and 7th Gen Intel®
Core™ processors.
Key Features and Specifications of ISL9238 and
ISL9238A
• Buck-boost NVDC charger for 1-, 2-, 3-, or 4-cell
Li-ion batteries
• Input voltage range of 3.2V to 23.4V (no dead-zone)
• System output voltage of 2.4V to 18.304V
• Up to 1MHz operation allows use of smaller, lower
cost inductors and automatically reduces switching
frequency with no audible acoustic noise when charger
is in DCM mode
• ASGATE FET control: actively controls inrush
current to prevent FET damage
• Low-power and high-power LDO outputs tie to
VDD pin to provide bias power and MOSFET gate drive
power
• Compliant with Intel PROCHOT# and PSYS for
protection against battery voltage drop, adapter over-
current, battery over-current and overheat
• Allows trickle charging of depleted battery
• Autonomous charging option provides end of charge
control using safety timer to stop battery charging
• SMBus/I2C programmable limit settings with adapter
current monitor (AMON) and battery discharging current
monitor (BMON)
• Battery learn mode calibrates the battery fuel gauge
• ISL9238A includes a different SMBus address to
support charging a second battery
Pricing and Availability
The ISL9238 and ISL9238Abuck-boost battery chargers
are available now and priced at $3.50 USD in 1k
quantities. Both battery chargers are supplied in 4mm
x 4mm, 32-lead TQFN packages. For more information,
please visit
www.intersil.com/products/isl9238.New-Tech Magazine Europe l 81