Intersil Introduces Digital Power Modules That Speed Time to Market and Eliminate Need for Complex Power Circuit Design

MILPITAS, Calif., March 17, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Intersil Corporation (Nasdaq:ISIL), a leading provider of innovative power management and precision analog solutions, today announced the ISL8270M/71M family of digital power modules that dramatically reduce customer design complexity and accelerate time to market. Designed for 25/33 Amp applications, the ISL8270M/71M product family is based on Intersil’s fourth generation digital power controller, reflecting the company’s continued leadership and expertise in advanced digital power technology.

Experts estimate that for every dollar spent on data center hardware, another $0.66 is spent on electricity to power and cool these systems. Advanced power management can have a significant impact on these costs, enabling greater power density and reduced power dissipation for improved efficiency. In addition, equipment makers have historically had to design discrete power management solutions that require expensive heat sinks and fans and take up valuable board space while adding risk to the system. Intersil’s new ISL8270M/71M digital power modules leverage patented technologies to enable customers to quickly design high-performance, highly efficient and low profile power management systems.

The underlying power efficiency advantages enabled by the ISL8270M/71M digital power modules are based on Intersil’s innovative, proprietary ChargeMode™ Control modulation technology. This built-in, compensation free architecture enables very fast transient response and reduced output capacitance resulting in dynamic performance that minimizes the output voltage variation.

The new 25/33 Amp digital power modules, like Intersil’s leading low-current products, also offer advantages over analog counterparts by providing real-time system intelligence and configuration capabilities. Specifically, they provide vital information about the power supply, such as how much power is consumed at any given time, and can be optimized accordingly.

Intersil’s new digital power modules also reduce the complexity, footprint and solution cost through integration and innovative packaging. The fast transient response of the module eases design by requiring only bulk input and output capacitors to complete a fully digital switch mode power supply, eliminating the need for complex power circuit design. The ISL8270M/71M digital power modules also eliminate the need for additional heat sinks or internal fans, making them ideal for low headroom applications, where board space is at a premium. Power dissipation is reduced thanks to the modules’ thermally enhanced, compact (17mm x 19 mm) and low-profile (3.5mm) over-molded, high-density array (HDA) package.

The new digital power modules are supported by the company’s latest release of the PowerNavigator™ graphical user interface, which allows designers to use Intersil’s digital power products without writing a line of code. The easy-to-use, drag-and-drop interface is a free, downloadable GUI that provides the flexibility designers need to quickly set up and control any power supply architecture. PowerNavigator’s “hardware-free” mode lets users select components prior to hardware development, without design risk. The PowerNavigator 5.1 GUI provides access to all commands and setup configurations, including the ability to load predefined configurations for common applications. This enables unprecedented ease of use when coupled with the company’s digital power module solutions.

“The ISL8270M/71M product family brings the flexibility and intelligence of digital power in the simplicity of a module,” said Mark Downing, senior vice president of Infrastructure and Industrial Power Products at Intersil. “Intersil has been leading digital power innovation, and we understand the system demands of the high-end equipment being deployed in data centers and networks worldwide. Our new ISL8270M/71M family was built with these applications in mind and offers an intelligent digital power management and conversion solution that is efficient and easy to use.”

Key Features and Specifications

Fully integrated module with integrated controller, driver, power MOSFETs and inductor, and supporting components.
Based on Intersil’s ZL8800 dual output or dual phase digital DC/DC controller with ChargeMode Control.
PMBUS-compliant monitoring and configuration featuring programmable output voltage, margining, UV/OV, output current limit, soft-start/soft-stop, sequencing and external synchronization.
On demand readback of input voltage, output voltage and output current.
HDA package lowers assembly cost by using standard surface mount equipment and allowing for automated assembly.

Availability

The ISL8270M and ISL8271M digital power modules will be available in Q2 2014 through Intersil’s global distribution channel.

For more information on the ISL8270M and the ISL8271M digital power modules, please visit:http://www.intersil.com/ISL8270-1M.

Intersil at APEC 2014

Intersil will demonstrate its newest power management and precision analog technologies at APEC 2014(booth #1209) at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas, from March 17 to 19.

On Tuesday, March 18, senior marketing manager Chance Dunlap will present a seminar, “Designing High Bandwidth, Compensation Free, POL Converters with Digital Power,” in which he will demonstrate the award-winning ZL8800 Digital ChargeMode™ controller in conjunction with the PowerNavigator™ GUI. The presentation will take place between 3:45 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. Central Time (CT) in room 200.

About Intersil

Intersil Corporation is a leading provider of innovative power management and precision analog solutions. The company’s products form the building blocks of increasingly intelligent, mobile and power hungry electronics, enabling advances in power management to improve efficiency and extend battery life. With a deep portfolio of intellectual property and a rich history of design and process innovation, Intersil is the trusted partner to leading companies in some of the world’s largest markets, including industrial and infrastructure, mobile computing, automotive and aerospace. For more information about Intersil, visit our website at www.intersil.com.