Intersil has announced the ISL94203 3-to-8 cell battery pack monitor that supports Li-ion and other battery chemistries used in medical mobility carts, wheelchairs, e-bikes, handheld power tools, vacuum cleaners and solar or renewable energy storage systems. The device accurately monitors, protects and cell balances rechargeable battery packs to maximise battery life and ensure safe charging and system operation.

  Radiation hardened (rad hard) multiplexers, claimed to offer the industry’s highest signal chain accuracy and timing performance, have been introduced by Intersil. The ISL71840SEH and ISL71841SEH provide outstanding ESD protection.

A buck-boost switching regulator that enables efficient power management of system power supplies and peripherals such as WiFi, Bluetooth, memory cards or LCD modules has been released by Intersil. The ISL9120 features an adaptive current limit PFM architecture, which delivers an efficiency of up to 98%, while providing smooth transitions from buck-to-boost to prevent glitches in applications where light load efficiency and fast transient respons...

Intersil has released the AEC-Q100 qualified TW9992 automotive analogue video decoder, which features an integrated MIPI-CSI2 output interface, offering compatibility with the latest SoC processors. The decoder’s MIPI-CSI2 interface simplifies design by making it easier to interface with SoCs, while also lowering the system’s EMI profile.

Intersil has introduced its first 60V synchronous buck controller able to bypass the intermediate step-down conversion stage traditionally employed in industrial applications. The ISL8117 synchronous step-down PWM controller’s low duty cycle (40ns minimum on-time) enables the direct step-down conversion from 48V to a 1V PoL. 

Intersil has unveiled PowerNavigator version 5.2 with added features, a free, downloadable GUI that helps system designers quickly configure, validate, monitor and optimise their power supply architectures. Combined with the drag-and-drop GUI interface, PowerNavigator 5.2 makes it straightforward to change features and functions of a digital power supply design without writing a single line of code.

Intersil has introduced a pair of integrated PMICs that enable the industry’s first credit card-size motherboards for high-end ultrabook and tablet computers powered by 2-cell Li-ion batteries. The single-chip ISL95908 PMIC delivers eight voltage rails optimised to support subsystem peripheral power requirements for Intel IMVP8 platforms, and the single-chip ISL95906 provides eight power rails for VR12.6-compliant systems.

Today’s electronic devices have higher mobility and are greener than ever before. Battery advancements are fueling this progression in a wide range of products from portable power tools to PHEVs and wireless speakers. In recent years, the efficiency of a battery in terms of how much power it can output with respect to size and weight has dramatically improved.

The demand for more sophisticated electronic industrial motor control is growing. Steve Rogerson looks at the drivers and the difficulties facing developers.

A 50A, fully encapsulated digital DC/DC PMBus power module, claimed to be the industry’s first, has been released by Intersil. The ISL8272M is a complete step-down power supply that delivers up to 50A of output current from industry standard 12V or 5V input power rails, and four modules can be combined to support up to 200A rails. 

Delivering up to 2A of continuous output current from a 2.7-5.5V input supply, the ISL8002B synchronous buck (step-down) switching regulator has been introduced by Intersil. The device’s 2MHz switching frequency provides superior transient response, while its programmable soft-start, and output tracking and sequencing of FPGAs and MPUs increase system reliability for POL conversions in networking, factory automation, instrumentation an...

Designed to improve safety for drivers and pedestrians, a four-channel analogue video decoder with a built-in analogue video encoder, has been released by Intersil. The TW9984, which replaces up to nine discrete components with a single chip, generates 360° surround images for ADAS. 

16 of Intersil's radiation-hardened ICs were on board the maiden voyage of NASA's Orion spacecraft, also known as the uncrewed Exploration Flight Test 1, on 5th December 2014. The Orion spacecraft is designed to go where no man has gone before, exploring and collecting asteroid samples, a future planned robotic mission to redirect an asteroid to orbit the moon, and the long sought after manned mission to Mars.

A dual 3A/single 6A step-down DC/DC power module, which simplifies power supply design for FPGAs, ASICs, MPUs and DSPs, has been introduced by Intersil. The ISL8203M measures 9.0x6.5x1.83mm and features an efficiency of 95%, providing power system designers with a high performance, easy to use solution for their low power, low voltage applications.

What do you get when you cross tougher emissions and fuel economy standards, 48V lithium-ion battery technology, energy harvesting and high-power applications such as Electric Power Steering (EPS), Brake-By-Wire (BBW) and Heating, Ventilation & Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems? By Philip Chesley, Vice President, Precision Products, Intersil.

The founding members of the Architects of Modern Power (AMP) Consortium have incorporated three of Intersil's digital DC/DC controllers into digital POL DC/DC converters. High current loads are provided by the converters for high-end FPGAs and ASICs used in densely populated power supplies in servers, storage equipment and basestations.

At electronica 2014, which takes place from 11th to 14th November in Munich, Intersil will exhibit bridge drivers, radiation hardened ICs and analogue and sensor ICs at three distribution partner booths. At Macnica’s booth (A5.167) there will be a demonstration of Intersil’s HIP2103 bridge driver powering a DeWalt 20V MAX XR Lithium-ion Brushless Compact Drill.

Christian Koehler, Field Application Engineer, Intersil, discusses critical concerns when balancing lithium ion batteries and an Intersil product that addresses these issues.

Supercapacitors (SCs), also known as ultracapacitors and electric double-layer capacitors, are finding use in a variety of power management applications. In automotive applications such as start-stop systems with regenerative braking, SCs can provide the energy needed to engage the starter to restart the combustion engine as well as accept the kinetic energy recovered during braking.

Extending battery life with efficiencies of up to 96%, Intersil has expanded the ISL911xx family of buck-boost and boost switching regulators. Optimised to support system power supplies and peripherals, the regulators provide smooth transitions from buck to boost to prevent glitches and noise in single-cell Li-ion or Li-polymer battery systems such as smartphones and tablets.