Highly Integrated USB-C buck charger reduces size by 30%

Designers of portable Li-ion battery-powered electronics can now have a simplified and more flexible way to add a USB-C charging system to their products with the MAX77860 3A switch-mode charger from Maxim Integrated Products. This USB-C buck charger claims to offer the industry’s first integrated USB-C port controller and charger to remove the demand for a separate host controller, simplify software development and lessen overall BOM costs for applications such as financial point-of-sale terminals, industrial computers, power banks, radios, scanners, medical devices, charging cradles, portable speakers and game players. To decrease design size as well as simplify the system hardware and software design, the device combines USB-C CC port detection and a battery charger for 15W applications. These integrated functions enable battery charging at the fastest rate possible under the USB-C specification and contribute to 30% smaller design size while also simplifying software development. The CC pin detection feature also reduces the design effort by removing the requirement to support end-to-end USB port connection and providing charging to start automatically. “The new MAX77860 from Maxim provides real advantages to design engineers working in the growing internet of things market,” said Kimberly Majkowski, global product manager, Power Management ICs at Premier Farnell. “It reduces cost and design time while delivering super-fast battery-charging capabilities demanded by today’s consumers.” “The MAX77860 dramatically reduces system complexity by integrating the charger, the power path, the low-dropout regulator, the ADC and the USB-C CC detection in a small 3.9mm x 4.0mm package,” said Perry Tsao, executive director, Mobile Solutions Business Unit at Maxim Integrated. “This level of integration simplifies the design, enabling the delivery of more power and more functionality in minimal printed circuit board space.”