Microchip Presents Power Control Reference Design for Better Power Solutions
With a rise in smart home devices, a new need for offline AC-DC power solutions, programmability and adaptive control has risen for providing better interface with their power systems.
In these systems, a secondary side microcontroller (MCU) is typically not capable of starting a system without the use of a separate bias power supply which has been solved by a new reference design from Microchip Technology.
The company has launched the MCP1012 high voltage auxiliary AC-DC controller, demonstrating the ability to remove the independent bias power supply in many applications. The MCP1012 offline auxiliary device enables the system to transfer control of the power and duty cycle to a secondary MCU.
“The combination of our Inde-Flux technology in a Würth Elektronik eiSos transformer, our MCP1012 AC-DC controller and our SAM D20 series 32-bit MCU creates a unique solution to offline power management,” said Rich Simoncic, senior vice president of Microchip’s analog, power and interface business unit. “These devices enable a simpler, more reliable implementation of complex bi-directional communication between the primary and secondary elements used in many isolated applications utilizing offline power. Where this solution is used in systems with a secondary MCU, customers can realize up to 60% savings of the bias supply area and reduce the bias supply bill of materials costs by $3 or more.”
The control between the system and the load can be more precise and purposefully coupled, through a design that can be simplified, reducing size and cost.
The reference design uses a patented isolation technique for isolated feedback. This patented isolation technique called Inde-Flux transformer technology is being licensed to Würth Elektronik eiSos. Inde-Flux technology is used in the Inde-Flux Transformer (Part Number 750318659), the first transformer made by Würth Elektronik eiSos using this IP and sold as part of Microchip’s 15W MCP1012 offline reference design. This transformer combines the signal power and signal communication into one device, eliminating the need for optical feedback or an independent signal transformer.
The option is also available to use more traditional approaches with a planar pulse transformer on the reference design, as well as the ability of the design to work with more traditional opto-couplers and signal transformers. The secondary-side control is then enabled through a combination of the transformer and Microchip’s newly released MCP1012 AC-DC controller along with the SAM D20 series 32-bit MCU.
