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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