Power-conversion/ management IC squeezes into embedded-system space
By Margery Conner, Technical Editor -- EDN, July 31, 2006
Zilker Labs' new ZL2105 IC (picture) digital-power-conversion and -management IC targets the needs of the embedded-system market. The device provides as much as 3A at 0.6 to 5.5V. The chip combines power-management and -conversion functions, as well as the switching FETs, into its 6×6-mm package.
Unlike several other digital-conversion ICs, which use PID controllers for their PWM schemes, the ZL2105 uses a state machine. "The architecture is deterministic: You can't change it from being a buck step-down converter, because the loop is a hard-wired state machine—not a DSP or a microcontroller," says Jim Templeton, Zilker's founder and vice president of marketing. "That's part of the ease of use of the chip, because it makes it higher efficiency by virtue of dissipating less power," he adds.
The chip requires no programming: You set characteristics such as output voltages, overcurrent-protection setting, delay times, and more by strapping pins, selecting resistors, or using any of the PMBus commands the chip supports. The device costs $2.80 (100).
