News & Events
Intersil Announces a Low-Cost, Dual-Output PWM Controller For a Wide Variety of General Purpose Applications

-- The ISL6440's Dual PWM controllers satisfy high efficiency power regulation applications, reduce the overall component costs and save valuable printed circuit board space

MILPITAS, CA, March 23, 2005 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog solutions, announced today a new high-performance, dual PWM controller optimized for converting wall adapter, battery or network intermediate bus DC input supplies into the system supply voltages required for a wide variety of general purpose products. The ISL6440 operates from any input voltage in the range of 4.5V to 24V and provides two synchronous buck-regulated voltage outputs. The wide input operating range accommodates wall adapters, 5V or 12V supplies, or intermediate bus architectures.

“The ISL6440 satisfies the power regulation requirements for many diverse products, including home media servers, multimedia networking, digital TVs, security cameras, DC/DC power modules, tablet PDAs and more,” said Sarika Arora, product marketing manager in Intersil’s General Purpose Power Products group. “The ISL6440 operates at a switching frequency of 300kHz, resulting in high efficiency and high maximum duty cycle.”

Intersil’s ISL6440 PWM controllers provide separate soft-start and enable inputs, which allow great flexibility in sequencing and timing of the supplies. This feature is especially useful when powering devices such as FPGAs, ASICs and DSPs, which demand unique power-up sequences. The two PWM controllers operate 180 degrees out-of-phase to reduce input ripple current, which can reduce the cost of filtering and reduce required board area.

The ISL6440 incorporates several protection features including an adjustable over-current protection circuit that monitors the output current by sensing the voltage drop across the lower MOSFET. Hiccup mode over-current operation protects the DC-DC components from damage during output overload or short circuit conditions.

The ISL6440’s PWM controllers share a single PGOOD signal, which is asserted when soft-start is complete on both PWM controllers and their outputs are within 10 percent of the set point. Thermal shutdown circuitry turns off the device if the junction temperature exceeds +150 degrees C. Normal operation resumes when the die temperature drops below 130 degrees C through the initiation of a full soft-start cycle.

ISL6440 Features

• Wide input supply voltage range
  • 5.6V to 24V
  • 4.5V to 5.6V
• Two independently programmable output voltages
• Switching frequency - 300kHz
• 180° Out-of-phase PWM controller operation
  • Reduces required input capacitance and power supply induced loads
• No external current sense resistor
  • Uses lower MOSFET’s rDS(ON)
• Programmable soft-start
• Extensive circuit protection
  • Power Good, UVLO (undervoltage lockout), over-current, over-temperature, and independent shutdown for both PWMs
• Excellent dynamic response
  • Voltage Feed-Forward with Current Mode Control

Target markets:

• Single Chip solution for xDSL modems/routers
• POL regulation for DSP, ASIC, and FPGA chipsets
• Broadband, telecom and networking applications
• Dual output supplies for DSP, memory, logic and microcontrollers

Availability and Pricing
The ISL6440 is available now in standard lead finish and Pb-free, in a 24-lead, 5 mm X 5 mm QSOP package. The suggested price in 10,000 unit quantities is $1.30 for each IC.

Learn more about Intersil’s complete family of power management solutions that satisfy a broad range of applications, including computing, communications, peripherals, display, networking, telecom, industrial, instrumentation and battery-powered products from Intersil’s Power web site at: http://www.intersil.com/power/ About Intersil
Intersil Corporation, a NASDAQ 100 Index company, is a leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog semiconductors. The company’s products address three of the industry’s fastest growing markets: flat panel displays, optical storage (CD and DVD recordable) and power management. Intersil products include power management devices for battery management, hot-swap and hot-plug controllers, linear regulators, supervisory ICs, switching DC / DC regulators and power MOSFET drivers; optical storage laser diode drivers; DSL line drivers; video and high performance operational amplifiers; data converters; interface ICs; analog switches and multiplexers; crosspoint switches; voice-over-IP devices; and ICs for military, space and rad-hard applications. For more information about Intersil or to find out how to become a member of our winning team, visit the company’s web site and career page at www.intersil.com.

This release may include "forward looking statements" that are subject to risks and uncertainties. For information identifying economic, political, climatic, currency, regulatory, technological, competitive and some other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward looking statements, see Intersil’s Safe Harbor Forward Looking Statement disclaimer found at http://www.intersil.com/legal.asp, as well as Intersil’s SEC filings as updated from time to time, found at http://www.sec.gov. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.