New highly-integrated automotive power management IC

Cypress Semiconductor has announced a new series of devices offering the industry’s most compact, highly-integrated power management ICs (PMICs) that regulate power supply voltage from a vehicle’s battery for automotive applications including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), body control modules and instrument cluster systems. The Cypress S6BP20x series exploits proprietary one-channel, buck-boost DC-DC converter technology to enable electronic control unit (ECU) power management solutions to safely manage extreme battery voltage fluctuations. The PMICs enable small form factor ECU power management solutions that use only one tiny ceramic capacitor instead of the two bulky, expensive electrolytic capacitors required by legacy PMICs. Cypress has also added the S6BP50x PMIC series for automotive instrument cluster systems to its portfolio. The 3-channel output PMICs integrate a buck controller, a buck converter and a boost converter, along with a spread spectrum clock generator (SSCG), all in a single chip. Both new primary PMIC series complement Cypress’s secondary power source S6BP40x series, as well as Cypress’s Traveo automotive microcontroller (MCU) family. The Cypress automotive PMICs carry AEC-Q100 automotive qualification. “Cypress continues to add innovative products such as these new power management ICs to strengthen our broad portfolio for automotive applications,” said Kiyoe Nagaya, vice president, Analog Business Unit, Cypress. “Our automotive products adhere to the most stringent standards and offer proven reliability, with more than 60 million automotive PMIC units shipped in less than a decade.” The ECUs of today’s vehicles must be small, low power and able to support system safety functions under all operating conditions, including during cold-cranking - when the automobile engine starter draws an excessive amount of current due to starting the engine in cold temperatures - or load dump - a power surge that occurs when an automobile battery is disconnected while the alternator is supplying current during engine operation. Cypress’s S6BP20x automotive PMICs require only nine external components, providing a small PCB layout and reducing the system’s bill of materials, says the company. The PMICs consume only 20µA of quiescent current, extending battery life, and they feature an input voltage range of 2.5 - 42V that encompasses both cold cranking and load dump conditions. Additionally, Cypress offers the Easy DesignSim verification tool and evaluation kits to accelerate automotive electronics design.