Analog Devices re-emerged as a power-IC contender at last month’s APEC 2008 show in Austin, Texas, with its ADP1043 digital pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller for ac-dc and isolated dc-dc power supplies. To facilitate design with the device, ADI provides an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) that interacts with the chip via an I2C bus (see the figure).
The chip has seven PWM outputs, plus a choice of traditional analog or open-standard digital current-share schemes for paralleling those outputs, as well as on-board memory for program and data storage. So, some kind of GUI is clearly necessary.
The GUI also is truly graphic and interactive. For example, designers can adjust loop compensation in a prototype circuit by grabbing the pole, dragging it to where they want it, and watching the change in step response. Other screens in the GUI are equally intuitive.
The ADP1043 will be available for general sampling in May and in production quantities in August. The controller costs $4.50 each in 1000-piece lots and comes in a 32-pin, 5- by 5-mm LFCSP.
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