News & Events
Intersil Stays Ahead of the Pack with Industry's First 5-in-1 ACPI Regulator IC to Power Dual-Channel DDR Memory, Graphics Memory Controller Hub and Buses

-- All-in-one IC with two PWM regulators, a high-current linear regulator and two LDO controllers, provides significant space and cost savings for next-generation PCs

MILPITAS, CA, February 23, 2004 – Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog solutions, today announced the new Endura™ ISL6537A. The ISL6537A is the industry’s first and only 5-in-1 power regulator IC specifically designed to reduced bill-of-materials (BOM) and manufacturing costs while reducing board space and routing problems for next-generation Intel-based computing platforms. This new regulator IC provides unmatched regulator integration and offers full ACPI compliance in a near-chip-scale and thermally enhanced quad flat no-lead (QFN) package. Once again, Intersil delivers the highest performance-to-price power solution value in the industry for leading-edge high-end workstations, servers and PCs.

The ISL6537A lends itself well to a wide range of applications including: single- and dual-channel DDR memory in ACPI compliant PCs, graphics processors and associated memory, ASIC power supplies, embedded processor and I/O supplies and DSP applications. With each application, the ISL6537A brings high performance, reduced bill of materials and lower manufacturing costs.

“At Intersil, products are developed in concert with technological trends and developments well in advance of tomorrow’s computing systems in which they will appear,” said Cindy Drapcho, Vice President for Intersil’s Desktop and File Server Power Products. “Meeting the demands of constantly increasing multiple voltage rails requiring tight regulation and precise power sequencing in and out of stand-by modes is only part of the overall challenge. Today’s power solutions for tomorrow must have higher levels of integration to provide the space and cost savings that is also demanded without loss of performance or reliability. Enter the ISL6537A – meeting the needs of our customers.”

The ISL6537A delivers high performance and significant cost savings when compared to any prior-to solutions. This advanced IC integrates two PWM controllers, one 3-A low dropout (LDO) regulator, and two LDO controllers, along with all the power sequencing, system monitoring and protection functions required for DDR and chip set regulation on Intel-based motherboards. The ISL6537A reduces critical board area and overall BOM cost while maintaining ease of routing and thermal margin to meet higher power density requirements of next-generation Intel CPUs.

The ISL6537A provides a complete ACPI-compliant power solution for up to four (4) dual in-line memory module (DIMM) dual-channel DDR/DDR2 memory systems. A synchronous buck controller supplies VDDQ during the S0/S1 and S3 states. During the S0/S1 state, a fully integrated 3-A sink-source regulator generates an accurate (VDDQ/2) high-current VTT voltage without the need for a negative supply. A buffered version of the VDDQ/2 reference is provided as VREF.

An integrated soft-start feature brings all outputs into regulation in a controlled manner when returning to S0/S1 state from any sleep state. During S0 the VIDPGD signal indicates that the GMCH and CPU VTT termination voltage is within spec and operational.

A second PWM controller, which requires external MOSFET drivers such as Intersil’s ISL6605 or ISL6612, is available for regulation of the graphics memory controller hub (GMCH) core voltage. This external MOSFET driver architecture is an industry first for multiple-output DDR/chipset voltage regulators. The external driver makes placement of the power stage easy as the MOSFET driver, MOSFETs, inductor, and output capacitors can be placed close to the component requiring regulation. This power partitioning greatly improves noise immunity, voltage regulation, and thermal performance of the GMCH DC/DC converter.

An LDO controller is also integrated for the CPU VTT bus termination voltage regulation and an LDO is provided to power other components or rails on the motherboard.

Additional platform cost savings can be realized by adding Intersil’s new ISL6506 ACPI-compliant dual regulator to serve stand-by system and peripheral power requirements. Intersil’s ISL6506 complements the ISL6537A by providing the 5 V(dual) and 3.3 V(dual) that the ISL6537A requires for down-conversion to the DDR core and the other voltages. Packaged in a space-saving and thermally enhanced 8-lead exposed-pad (EP) SOIC, the ISL6505 provides 5 V(dual), for USB, keyboard and mouse, and 3.3 V(dual) and 3.3 V(standby) for PCI, auxiliary and LAN circuits.

• ISL6506 – 5 V(dual) is shut down in S4/S5 sleep states, 1-A current limit on 3.3-V LDO
• ISL6506A – 5 V(dual) stays on in S4/S5 sleep states, 1-A current limit on 3.3-V LDO
• ISL6506B – 5 V(dual) is shut down in S4/S5 sleep states, 2-A current limit on 3.3-V LDO
• Over-temperature shutdown and under-voltage protection
• Soft start to avoid system upsets

ISL6537A Technical Summary

• Five (5) regulators in one small thermally efficient package that saves space and cost
  • Industry’s lowest-noise PWM synchronous-buck controller for DDR memory VDDQ, 2% regulation, user-adjustable down to the 0.8-V reference, drives low-cost N-channel MOSFETs, over-current protection
  • Industry’s highest-current (3 A) VDDQ/2 tracking memory bus termination voltage VTT regulator
  • PWM regulator for GMCH core power
  • LDO regulator for CPU/GMCH VTT bus termination voltage
  • LDO regulator to power other components or rails on the motherboard
• Integrated VREF buffer
• +/-2% regulation for all outputs
• ACPI-compliant sleep state control
  • Glitch-free transitions during state changes
• Under- and over-voltage monitoring
• Current limiting on PWMs and short-circuit protection on all LDOs
• Thermal shutdown protection
• 28-pad 6 X 6 mm quad flat no-lead (QFN) package

ISL6537A Pricing and Availability
The ISL6537A is available now. The suggested resale price in 100 to 999-unit quantities is $2.05 for each ISL6537ACR IC.

ISL6506 Pricing and Availability
The ISL6506 is available now. The suggested resale price in 1000-unit quantities is $0.65 for each ISL6506CB, $0.65 for each ISL6506ACB and $0.75 for each ISL6506BCB. About Intersil
Intersil Corporation 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. Endura is a trademark of Intersil Americas Inc.
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