PoL Buck Regulator for Power Management Tasks

Semtech has introduced the SC197, a 500mA, dual-output, point-of-load regulator that is suitable for portable equipment applications, including smartphones, medical devices, digital cameras and more. The SC197 combines two PWM DC/DC regulators in an ultra-small, low-profile 2 x 3 x 0.6mm package with an overall design solution footprint of 80mm2. The small size and footprint of the SC197 are said to help designers save board space compared with using two single-channel switchers and power efficiency up to 94 per cent makes the device a higher-efficiency alternative to LDOs.

The SC197 is said to be suitable for power management applications in portable equipment, as well as in lower-voltage, multi-rail power supply designs. In addition to the two on-chip regulators, the SC197 features integrated 4-bit VID pins to prove dynamic voltage scaling (DVS), without the need for external programming resistors. Also, on-chip loop compensation eliminates the need for stability control components and a 3.5MHz fixed PWM switching frequency operation balances high efficiency and fast transient response, while enabling the SC197 to work with small chip inductors.

In typical designs, each regulator requires only two capacitors and a single inductor. Athar Zaidi, director of marketing in Semtech's power management group, said: 'The SC197 joins our recently announced SC283 dual buck regulator, designed to drive down size in systems requiring higher power up to 1.8A. 'The SC197 gives designers an easy-to-use, small switching solution for powering both core and peripheral functions in portable equipment applications, including smartphones, medical and personal navigation devices, point-of-sale terminals, digital cameras and portable gaming consoles,' he added.

Both regulators in the SC197 operate from inputs of 2.9V to 5.5V and provide 15-pin programmable output voltages from 0.8V to 3.3V, covering all the typical core and I/O voltage rails with one device. An automatic power-save mode reduces quiescent current to 38uA (typical) per regulator to maintain high efficiency during light loads. The SC197 offers full protection features, including internal soft-start to minimise inrush current; input under-voltage lockout; output over-voltage and current-limit protection, fold-back current limit, short-circuit protection, and over-temperature protection.

Semtech said 100 per cent duty-cycle operation is also supported for applications with low headroom between input and output. For applications requiring one regulator, the SC195, with an external inductor, and the SC202 with an integrated inductor, offer the same performance as the SC197. For higher-power applications requiring dual regulators, the SC283 integrates two 1.8A regulators.

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