Continual Innovation Pushes Power Management

By Warren Webb -- Movers & Shakers, 6/22/2006

By the time you get out of bed, dash to work and log into your desktop computer in the morning, dozens of specialized management semiconductors have already been working hard to optimize your power usage. These power management devices are found in almost every electronic product ranging from MP3 players to military avionics. Designers rely on them to minimize energy consumption, dissipate heat, reduce the hardware form factor and decrease system cost. With roots in simple rectifiers and regulators, power management devices are the building blocks necessary to translate, regulate and control the power needs of modern electronic devices and systems. In portable electronic devices, power management circuits are responsible for extending battery life and minimizing charging times.

No one supplier dominates the power management sector, with STMicroelectronics hovering around 10 percent market share. According to iSuppli, the power management semiconductors group came in with a 2005 fourth-quarter growth of about 5.4 percent, while the semiconductor industry overall experienced a -1.7 percent growth from the third quarter to the fourth quarter.

"Power management is the basis of all electronic systems. No matter what, you must have some power management on your board," notes Fulvio Abela, STMicroelectronics' director of marketing for power and analog products. "So far, it has been difficult to integrate the power functions inside a bigger chip due to the cost of integration and because most power management chips require a different mask set. Our strategy is to provide system solutions to our customers so we deliver everything from the controller or driver or regulator to the discretes."

With the relentless procession of new technologies, power management vendors need to innovate to succeed. This year's segment leader also won EDN magazine's innovation of the year award for power ICs. STMicroelectronics topped other contenders with its STw4141 dc/dc converter, designed for use with digital baseband and multimedia processors in portable applications. The novel circuit allows two different output voltages to be generated with a single external coil, reducing parts count and manufacturing cost. "The STw4141 will make a significant contribution toward a reduced bill of materials for cell phone manufacturers, enabling them to bring out world-beating mobile products that are smaller, cheaper, and provide even longer battery life, says Eric Aussedat, general manager of STMicroelectronics' cellular communications division."

One of the hottest application areas for power management devices over the next few years will be automotive electronics. The proliferation of electronics in entertainment systems, power-train controls and safety components is fueling the steady growth of automotive power management devices. Overall, automotive exceeds the rate of growth in all other major electronic equipment segments, including data processing and mobile communications. iSuppli predicts revenues from shipments of power management ICs for automotive uses will grow to $5.3 billion by 2008.

Digitally controlled power, a new trend in power management, has the potential to shake up the segment. These ICs integrate microcontrollers, application-specific silicon and software algorithms for monitoring, data exchange and control of power systems.

Warren Webb is a technical editor for EDN.