1998-10-05 , E/IC-1048/54
Product News From Philips Semiconductors

At Power '98 (October 4-6, Santa Clara, USA), Philips Semiconductors, the largest European Semiconductor manufacturer, is introducing a new low-cost DC/DC converter IC targeted at the growing number of 'smart mobile' consumer products that utilise low-voltage low-power CMOS logic to minimise battery drain. Typical applications for this new converter will include mobile and cordless telephones, PDAs and palm-top computers.

"Many of the latest mobile phones use a Li-ion battery or a three cell NiCd or NiMH battery pack to generate the 3.6 V required to drive the RF power amplifier" said Leo Warmerdam, Philips Semiconductors' product marketing manager for DC/DC converter ICs. "Yet all of their logic circuitry is implemented in 2-volt or 1.5-volt CMOS."

Utilising Philips Semiconductors' innovative digital pulse-width/pulse-frequency control techniques, the new TEA1207 DC/DC converter can down-convert to voltages as low as 1.25 V while maintaining a conversion efficiency of greater than 90% for output currents between a few milliamps and 0.5 A. (Most other DC/DC converter ICs on the market only achieve high efficiency over a very narrow range of output currents.) It can also be used in an up-conversion mode to generate output voltages in the range 2.8 V to 5.5 V from input voltages greater than 1.8 V. The TEA1207's high efficiency over a wide range of output currents and its excellent dynamic response make it particularly suitable for use in systems that employ intelligent power management to switch off unused sections of circuitry.

The TEA1207's high switching frequency of 300 kHz allows the use of a very small inductor and capacitors. As a result, the complete DC/DC converter circuit can be accommodated in less than 1 cm? of pc board area. The switching frequency can also be synchronised to an external clock to minimise EMI effects in critical applications such as mobile and cordless telephones. In addition, the TEA1207 has a precisely defined current limit that suits it for use with Li-ion batteries, and an under-voltage lock-out circuit that prevents lock-up situations occurring at low supply voltages.

The TEA1207 is housed in an 8-lead small-outline surface-mount package and costs less than US$ 1.00 in high volume.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the ninth largest semiconductor supplier in the world and the third largest supplier of discretes in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs.

Power '98, The Sixth International Conference on Power Requirements for Mobile Computing and Wireless Communications (October 4-6, Santa Clara, California, USA) is a highly specialist exhibition that provides manufacturers of portable computing and cellular communication devices with the opportunity to keep pace with the latest hardware and software developments in power supplies and power management for mobile products and services. The conference, for which Philips Semiconductors is one of the sponsors, has attracted some 700 delegates from around the world. Its extensive program of technical paper is accompanied by an exhibition of products and services.