PSU design saves power for game consoles

Reference design achieves standby-mode power consumption of less than 1W - exceeding CEC, Energy Star and European COC requirements.

A new GreenPoint reference design for 200W power adapters used to power game consoles provides a blueprint for design engineers to implement adapters that minimise both active- and standby-mode power consumption.

Although regulatory agencies such as the California Energy Commission (CEC), Energy Star and European Code of Conduct (COC) target single-output voltage adapters, the 200W adapter for game consoles has a dual output voltage, which makes the requirements for maximum active efficiency and minimum standby mode power even more challenging to meet.

Delivering active-mode energy efficiency of 90% at full load, this GreenPoint reference design achieves standby-mode power consumption of less than 1W - exceeding CEC, Energy Star and European COC requirements.

A typical 200W adapter used to power today's game consoles consumes greater than 3W in standby mode.

"The 200W power adapter reference design joins our expanding portfolio of GreenPoint power adapter designs, and further strengthens ON Semiconductor's position as the leading semiconductor supplier for energy efficient power adapters", says Laurent Jenck, Director of Power Supply Applications and Marketing for ON Semiconductor's Power Regulation Group.

"Our growing family of GreenPoint designs showcases not only ON Semiconductor's technical expertise but our continued commitment to providing real world solutions that beat existing regulatory standards".

"In fact, we contend that even more stringent standards are plausible at existing system cost levels".

The GreenPoint 200W design topology delivers higher power density, which allows this reference design to be housed in a smaller form factor than typical power adapters with the same power rating.

The design can also be modified to include power factor correction.

The enabling device for the reference design is the NCP1562, an active clamp pulsewidth modulation (PWM) voltage mode controller designed for power supplies requiring high efficiency and power density.

Featuring a highly accurate (+/-5% maximum) duty cycle limit, the NCP1562 allows designers to optimise the selection of the MOSFET to enable the best combination of performance and cost.

The accuracy of this device is superior to currently offered competitive devices.

The new controller features a soft-stop which prevents the typical oscillations in the forward active-clamp topology and in turn provides a safer and more robust design.

Enhancing the safety and reliability of designs, the device features a dual-mode overcurrent protection circuit that handles momentary and continuous overcurrent conditions differently.

These integrated features provide the best tradeoffs in system performance and safety, and decrease the development time needed for power supply applications.

The NCP1562 is offered in RoHS-compliant, Pb-free SOIC-16 and TSSOP-16 packages.

It is priced at US $1.60 per unit in 2500 unit quantities.

A complete documentation package for the 200W power adapter - including description, block diagram, schematic, bill-of-materials, Gerber images, and evaluation results - is available from the ON Semiconductor website, as are the product specifications and other supporting information.

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