National Semiconductor enhances Webench

National Semiconductor has announced the addition of a graphical tool to its Webench online design environment as well as 11 Simple Switcher step-down voltage regulators.

The voltage regulators are suited to a variety of applications including automotive, industrial and communication.

National's new family of Simple Switcher step-down voltage regulators offers a input voltage range from 4.5V to 42V, which allows for wide-voltage transients from 12V and 24V input rails.

Internal compensation and small, low pin-count packages simplify the design process and reduce overall system size.

The 11 Simple Switcher step-down voltage regulators support a variety of load currents from 0.5A to 5A.

Designed with voltage mode control, the family includes the LM22670, LM22671, LM22672, LM22673, LM22674, LM22675, LM22676, LM22677, LM22678, LM22679 and the LM22680.

Each provides a fixed switching frequency at 500 kHz and adjustable switching frequency or frequency synchronisation up to 1 MHz which allows for electromagnetic interference (EMI) reduction in noise-sensitive automotive, industrial and communication applications.

Available in an eight-pin PSOP package and new seven-pin TO-263 thin package, the step-down voltage regulators also feature adjustable frequency, precision enable, external soft-start and adjustable current limits.

National's TO-263 thin package is manufactured from lead-free solder and halogen-free mould compounds.

The TO-263 thin package is footprint and PCB drop-in compatible with that of the standard T0-263 package.

Overall package thickness is 50 per cent thinner than standard TO-263 packaging (2.00mm versus 4.57mm).

It features improved moisture sensitivity levels and comparable thermal performance to the standard TO-263 packaging.

Available in standard tape-and-reel, the package received industry approval from the JEDEC JC-11 committee in May 2008 under registration number 10-447.

National's Webench has been expanded to include enhanced optimisation tools including bill-of-material components charts, efficiency and footprint graphs and the ability to output a fully formatted report summarising the design.

Webench's design environment enables novice as well as experienced power supply designers to easily 'dial-in' their size and efficiency requirements while also realising fast time to market.

Real-time electrical simulations feature enhanced waveform processing that enables designers to see the electrical behaviour of the circuit under dynamic conditions such as load transient, line transient or start up.

Bode plots are also provided to evaluate and optimise loop stability.

Thermal simulation enables engineers to track and solve thermal challenges in a design through the use of copper heat sinking, air flow and copper thickness.

Webench graphically shows the efficiency, footprint, component power dissipation and frequency for different design scenarios.

These charts offer views of the electrical properties such as efficiency, output voltage ripple, duty cycle and power dissipation over a range of output currents and input voltages.

This feature lets designers view design tradeoffs and select the best design optimised for their needs.

When the design is complete, a report summary is created and a custom prototype power supply kit can be ordered.

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