Control IC From IR Provides High Density Scalable Power Solution for POL Converters

With this arrangement, the final solution requires only a single IC per phase to deploy one to X phases. Alternative approaches require a control IC plus 1 to X driver ICs or scalable “all-in-one” ICs that do not utilize all IC pins or circuitry leading to increased solution cost and size.

The new device features 0.8V to 5.1V output voltage with 0.5 percent system set point accuracy and programmable 250 kHz to 9 MHz daisy-chain digital phase timing to provide a per phase switching frequency of 250 kHz to 1.5 MHz with no external components. A host of protection features include over-voltage protection, detection and protection of open remote sense lines and open control loop protection.

When co-designed with the IR3505 and IR3507 phase ICs, the new IR3513 XPhase control IC enables a power supply that is smaller and easier to design while providing higher efficiency and a lower overall system cost than alternative approaches, delivering a full-featured and flexible way to implement a complete power solution.

XPhase is IR's distributed multiphase architecture that consists of control ICs and phase ICs that communicate using a simple six-wire bus scheme. Phases can be added or removed without changing the fundamental design. The six-wire bus consists of a three-wire digital phase timing bus, an average current, an error amplifier output and a VID voltage. By eliminating point-to-point wiring between the control and the phase ICs, the six-wire bus shortens interconnections, and reduces parasitic inductance and noise. This simplifies PCB layout and provides a more robust design.