New-Tech Europe Magazine | May 2016

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new products
68 l New-Tech Magazine
The new DC/DC converter is
available in volume now from TI and
its authorized distributors. Offered
in a 20-pin, 3.5-mm-by-4-mm-by-
1-mm thermally enhanced HotRod
QFN package, the TPS54A20 is
priced at US$3.25 in 1,000-unit
quantities. Order the 4-MHz, 10-A
TPS54A20EVM-770 synchronous
dual-phase converter evaluation
module and download the PSpice
transient models.
Find out more about TI’s power-
management portfolio
Get more information on TI’s
high-performance SWIFT DC/DC
converter portfolio for any power-
supply application.
Search for solutions, get help and
share knowledge in the TI E2E™
Community Power Management
forum.
Download power reference designs
from the TI Designs reference
design library.
Ultra-small SWIFT™ step-down
converter features unique topology
to achieve four times higher current
density
Texas Instruments (TI) (NASDAQ:
TXN) today introduced the
industry’s first 12-V, 10-A, 10-MHz
series-capacitor buck converter
that achieves more than 50 A/cm3
in current density, which is four
times higher than any other 12 V
power management component or
solution available today. The unique
topology of the TPS54A20 SWIFT
synchronous DC/DC converter
enables high-frequency operation
at up to 5 MHz per phase without
special magnetics or compound
semiconductors, which designers
can use for 8-V to 14-V input and
10-A output applications. By using
the step-down converter together
with TI’s WEBENCH® Power
Design tool, engineers can get
their space- and height-constrained
point-of-load (POL) telecom and
networking power-supply designs to
market faster. For more information,
samples and an evaluation module,
visit
Figure 1: Size comparison between
a 12VIN, 10AOUT buck converter
operating at 500kHz (a-right) and
a series-capacitor buck converter
operating at 2MHz per phase (b-left)
Figure 1: Size comparison between
a 12VIN, 10AOUT buck converter
operating at 500kHz (a-right) and
a series-capacitor buck converter
operating at 2MHz per phase (b-left)
The TPS54A20 features a unique
two-phase, series-capacitor DC/
DC buck topology that merges a
switched-capacitor circuit with a
multiphase buck converter. This
capacitive conversion technology
enables efficient, high-frequency
operation and measures as much
as seven times smaller than
conventional converters. For a
quick introduction, watch the video
“How to decrease inductor size in a
10-A DC/DC converter design” and
read the white paper, “Breakthrough
power delivery for space-
constrained applications.” Read the
application note “Introduction to the
Series Capacitor Buck Converter”
that analyzes the technology and
presents example results for a 12-V
input, 1.2-V/10-A output application
demonstrating higher peak
efficiency than a conventional buck
converter, while operating at four
times higher switching frequency.
TPS54A20 key features and benefits
Tiny solution: Small HotRod™
quad flat no-lead (QFN) packaging
and inexpensive, tiny 2- to 5-MHz
inductors enable a 131-mm2 solution
size that consumes 50 percent less
area than similar 500-kHz DC/DC
converter designs. Read the blog
post, “No small matter: How to
reduce voltage regulator size.”
Low profile: Measuring less than
2 mm in height, the reduced size,
weight and bill of materials (BOM)
allows placement of tiny 10-Avoltage
regulators on the back side of a
printed circuit board (PCB), enabling
engineers to take advantage of the
small size that the TPS54A20 offers
for industrial servers or other space-
constrained applications.
Multi-megahertz operation: A 14-
ns minimum on-time allows for
4-/7-/10-MHz operation without
compromising efficiency or
electromagnetic interference (EMI)
performance. Download the “Three
Different Buck Converter Circuits to
Convert 12V to 1.2V at >6A Load
Current Reference Design,” which
includes a 1.2-V output voltage for
double-data-rate (DDR) 4 memory
applications.
Triple-Channel Universal
PMIC Supports Low Power
FPGA and SoC Processors
Exar Corporation (NYSE: EXAR),
a leading supplier of analog
mixed-signal products serving
the industrial, high-end consumer