Hot-swap controller does away with ORing diodes: News from Summit Microelectronics

Note: Readers of the Editor’s free email newsletter will have read this news when it was announced. . It’s free!

Summit Microelectronics has expanded its programmable power management family with the introduction of an innovative, dual-feed active ORing hot-swap controller. The SMH4814 device can monitor and control two independent -48V feeds, allowing for redundant power supply control. Furthermore, it eliminates the need for passive ORing diodes, which are bulky and significantly contribute to system power dissipation.

Using Summit's GUI-based, nonvolatile programming technology, system designers can customise the SMH4814 to address their specific power management and control requirements while using a single part number for different platforms.

The SMH4814 provides precise current and voltage control during turn-on and operation while an internal shunt regulator allows compatibility with a very wide input voltage range.

Unlike traditional implementations that utilise ORing diodes to connect redundant power supplies, the SMH4814 controls external N-channel field effect transistors (FETs), thereby significantly reducing total system power dissipation.

This in turn minimises costs and board space associated with cooling fans and heatsinks.

Lower power levels also eliminate the need for through-hole components, so manufacturing complexity is reduced.

The SMH4814 offers a variety of protection features that increase system performance and reliability.

Included are soft-start power-up 'overcurrent circuit-breaker' functions and integrated overvoltage and undervoltage monitors, allowing for full protection from system failures.

The overcurrent trip levels, forced shutdown mode, and overvoltage/undervoltage monitor thresholds are fully programmable allowing for a high degree of design flexibility.

Additionally, a programmable glitch filter is provided on the monitor circuits to prevent false alarms during transients.

The SMH4814 continuously monitors the incoming feeds and switches to the most negative feed as necessary.

In addition, it hot-swaps and sequences up to four independent downstream DC/DC convertors with programmable sequence order and delay times.

The SMH4814 ensures that a series of conditions are met before the external power MOSFET is turned on and the supply voltage is ramped up in a controlled well-behaved manner.

The device's integration, versatility and high-performance meet the most stringent requirements for high-end systems requiring maximum up-time.

Furthermore, all these features are offered in a space-saving 5 x 5mm QFN package, providing an 85% footprint reduction over the traditional SOIC-28 package.

The SMH4814 allows a variety of add-in cards to be removed from or inserted into a fully powered host platform without an interruption in the system's operation and without damage to any of the devices on the board.

Typical applications are those with -48V power distribution, including high-availability servers, wireless basestations, central office switches, and telecommunications line cards that demand both on-the-fly configurability and redundant power supply to the system.

Other applications include systems designed to support AdvancedTCA specifications, especially those with increasing power levels.

Programming is achieved via the convenient I2C bus and configuration data is safely stored in nonvolatile EEPROM memory of which 256 bytes are available for user data storage.

The devices can be programmed during development and then used in a 'fixed' configuration or they may be re-programmed in-system via the I2C interface.

The SMH4814 is offered in both the commercial and the industrial operating temperature range and is packaged in the space-saving 28-pad QFN and 28-pin SOIC packages.

Available now in production quantities, the SMH4814 is priced at $4.18 each in the commercial temperature range, and at $6.43 in the industrial temperature range for the SOIC package in quantities of 1000 devices.

Unit pricing for the QFN package is at $4.37 in the commercial temperature range and $6.75 in the industrial temperature range in quantities of 1000 units.

• Summit Microelectronics: contact details and other news
• Other news in Power Supply ICs and Controllers
• Email this news to a colleague
•
• RSS news feed for Summit Microelectronics
• RSS news feed for Power Supply ICs and Controllers
• Electronicstalk Home Page

Hot-swap controller does away with ORing diodes

The SMH4814 can monitor and control two independent -48V feeds, allowing for redundant power supply control.