Multiple factors push power ICs towards high energy efficiency and integration

Release time:2018-04-10 11:20:56

Green and efficient is the eternal theme of electronic products, and power ICs have always played a very important role in it. Due to the increasing popularity of low-power portable products and the demand for energy conservation and environmental protection, the requirements for power management are also constantly improving. Nowadays, power ICs such as panel driver ICs, home appliances, LED lighting driver ICs, charging devices, etc. have become important areas. How to reduce power consumption through lower power consumption designs, as well as being thinner, shorter, and more cost-effective, has become the direction that manufacturers are striving for. This is a significant responsibility for the power IC.

Due to the technological innovation achieved by PI Company in high-voltage integrated circuits, high-efficiency power supplies with small size and compact structure have been realized for various electronic products, including LED lighting, mobile phone chargers, computers, LCD TVs, DVD players, set-top boxes, household appliances, telecommunications network equipment, and more. For example, PI's CONCECT IGBT driver can improve the efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of high-power applications, including industrial motors, solar and wind energy systems, electric vehicles, and high-voltage direct current transmission. Since its launch in 1998, PI's EcoSmart energy-saving technology has saved billions of dollars in energy consumption and avoided millions of tons of carbon emissions.

Mr. Doug Bailey, Vice President of Global Marketing at PI, stated that standby power has become a major driving force in the power IC industry. Due to many devices always being in a state of '; Power on” Therefore, when considering battery life, devices that consume minimal power in sleep mode are very attractive. This may require the power IC to operate in multiple different modes so that the IC can perform its work more efficiently when the device is not in use and when fully operational.

Energy efficiency regulations drive the development of power products

The efficient use of electrical energy has become a development trend, and solutions that can improve efficiency levels, reduce power demand, or extend battery life will occupy an important position in the future. The energy efficiency standards of various countries around the world are constantly evolving, and electronic manufacturers need to launch power products with higher energy efficiency while meeting the requirements of each country's standards in order to win market recognition.

Under the promotion of regulations formulated by various institutions and governments, power manufacturers are actively developing innovative solutions that can improve efficiency, including reducing standby power consumption, improving work efficiency, and power factor. Mr. Doug Bailey stated that energy efficiency regulations worldwide have mandatory constraints on manufacturers of almost every imaginable product, from televisions to air conditioning products, mobile handheld devices, to rice cookers, electric toothbrushes, and lighting systems, requiring them to meet increasingly strict power consumption limits. This means that designers must seek more energy-efficient power supply designs. Some of the IC products launched by Power Integrations are the most energy-efficient on the market, making it easy for power supplies to meet all international regulations.

The future power management system will have increasingly high requirements for efficiency and reliability, which requires designers to accurately grasp market dynamics and regulatory requirements, and innovate power solutions in a timely manner.

The rise of portable devices poses new requirements for power management

One of the most important growth opportunities at present is in the field of mobile devices. Mobile devices powered by batteries have high requirements for battery charge and discharge management, and must be compact, efficient, and low-cost. This leads to the need for mobile power management technology to integrate more functions on smaller silicon chips while achieving stronger system power consumption with higher design flexibility without increasing costs. In the future, the development of mobile power management products will revolve around energy conservation and consumption reduction. The requirements for faster power design cycles, increased standby power consumption, improved energy efficiency, and reduced board area are changing traditional power design methods.

In addition, almost any battery powered consumer device uses a color active matrix LCD to display the different information and data that users need. The challenge faced by manufacturers is to ensure that users can read information from this display in any environment. To achieve this goal, manufacturers must provide color LCDs with appropriate backlighting levels. This backlight illumination is generally provided by white LED. This requires compact, efficient, and low-noise methods to power these LEDs.

With the development of electronic technology, especially the popularization of portable products and the promotion of energy conservation and environmental protection, power ICs are playing an increasingly important role. A few years ago, power ICs were only integrated voltage regulators and DC\/DC converters, but now power ICs cover a wide range of content, including AC\/DC, DC\/DC, LDO (Low Dropout Linear Regulator), battery charge and discharge management, PWM controller, Reset, PFC (Power Factor Correction), energy-saving control, power MOSEFT, and so on. The current development trend of power IC is no longer limited to a single function, but integrates various functions together, and the integration trend is obvious.

Mr. Doug Bailey, Vice President of Global Marketing at PI, stated that our increasing dependence on mobile devices is another factor driving the development of power ICs. Nowadays, users heavily rely on smartphones, which are not limited to calling functions. They do not want to wait for 4 hours or even longer to fully charge their phones. Mobile chip companies such as Qualcomm are launching new fast charging protocols, prompting power IC manufacturers to rethink the solutions they offer.

All these factors combined present new challenges for power IC manufacturers, while also presenting a major opportunity that is driving the emergence of a new generation of high integration, high-performance, and highly energy-efficient power chips.