Micro regulator offers faster system boot time and power analysis

Linear Technology has unveiled the LTM4676A, a new dual 13A or single 26A, current shareable up to 100A µModule (micro module) step-down DC-DC regulator with PMBus serial digital interface. The digital interface enables system designers and remote operators to command and supervise a system’s power condition and consumption. The LTM4676A µModule regulator has 70ms power-up time, 8ms ADC telemetry update rate and 400kHz PMBus-compliant I²C serial interface. These improvements allow quicker system boot time and faster data collection of power in applications with maximum power-up time requirements such as PCIe-based platforms. Examples of end products are optical transport systems, datacom and telecom switches and routers, industrial test equipment, robotics, and RAID and enterprise systems where the cost of electrical utilities, cooling and maintenance are critical and must be continuously and precisely measured. The LTM4676A is comprised of EEPROM, power MOSFETs, inductors and supporting components. It has fast, dual analog control loops, precision mixed signal circuitry and is housed in a 16mm x16mm x 5.01mm BGA (ball grid array) package. In addition to delivering power to a point-of-load, the LTM4676A features configurability and telemetry monitoring of power and power management parameters over PMBus- an open standard I²C-based digital serial interface protocol. The LTM4676A operates from a 4.5V to 17V input supply and steps down VIN to two outputs ranging from 0.5V up to 5.4V. Two channels can current share to provide up to 26A (i.e., 13A + 13A as one output). As many as four LTM4676A devices can be multi-phased to share current up to 100A output. To evaluate the performance of the LTM4676A, the LTpowerPlay GUI (graphic user interface, free to download), USB-to-PMBus converter and demo kit (DC1811B-KIT) are available. With ±0.5% maximum DC output error over temperature, ±2.5% current read back accuracy, integrated 16-bit delta-sigma ADC and EEPROM, the LTM4676A combines best-in-class analog switching regulator performance with precision mixed signal data acquisition. At start-up, output voltages, switching frequency and channel phase angle assignments can be set by pin-strapping resistors. The LTM4676A internal operating temperature range is from -40C to 125C.