News & Events
Intersil Takes Three "Product of the Year" Awards For High Performance Analog Products
— Differential receiver, current feedback operational amplifier and multiphase PWM controller named Products of the Year 2003 in three different categories
MILPITAS, CA, January 21, 2004 Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog solutions, announced today that three of its high performance analog products took Product of the Year honors in separate categories from the engineering webzine analogZONE. Intersil took the top honors in the categories: Best Use of Existing Infrastructure; Best Power/Performance Combination Op Amp; and Best Engineered PWM Controller.
Product of the Year award winners were selected from those reviewed throughout the year by analogZONE editor-in-chief Paul McGoldrick and section editor Lee Goldberg, with specific emphasis on the products performance, anticipated market success, and likely contribution to the field of analog engineering and product design.
Intersil EL9110 Differential Receiver/Equalizer
Intersils EL9110 is a differential receiver and equalizer that features 150 Megahertz (MHz) of bandwidth at -3dB and consumes only 33mA from a 5-volt supply. The EL9110 is ideal for use in twisted-pair receiving, VGA over twisted-pair and security video applications.
"The well-deserved Product of the Year award to Intersil from analogZONE for the EL9110 recognizes that an existing infrastructure should never be ignored as a potential arena for another function, said analogZONEs editor-in-chief Paul McGoldrick. Watching this product do its stuff rather reminded me of the first high-frequency PLL I ever built; you push the button and it just works.
This device is ideal in video switches, which typically traverse 1000 foot of cable. The EL9110 contains a high-speed differential receiver with five programmable poles. The outputs of these pole blocks are summed into an output buffer. Equalization length is set with the voltage on a single pin. It also contains a tri-stateable output, enabling multiple devices to be used in a multiplexing application. Gain can be adjusted up or down by 6dB using the voltage gain control signal. An additional 6dB of gain can be switched in to provide a matched drive into a cable. The EL9110 operates over the full -40°C to +85°C temperature range.
The EL9110 opens up the possibilities of many products that could use both equalized video signals and power over Cat-5 cable. Security systems come to mind first, but there must be limitless other possibilities, McGoldrick added.
Intersil EL5166/5167 1.4 GHz Current Feedback Op Amps
Intersils EL5166 and EL5167 are high performance op amps designed to meet the high bandwidth, high slew rate requirements of todays high performance video, test and instrumentation, and other high frequency applications.
"It is wonderful to see an analog design team turn out high-performance parts while also knowing how to minimize transistor size, and therefore quiescent, McGoldrick said. These parts will become important assets in the video and cable driving businesses and there is more, much more to come from the company.
The EL5166 and EL5167 feature unity gain bandwidths of 1.4 GHz and offer 6,000 volt-per-microsecond slew rates while exhibiting low distortion of 1.7 nanovolts (nV) per root hertz. With a supply current of just 8.3 milliamps (mA) and operating from a +/- 5V split supply, these current feedback amplifiers offer very high performance while consuming very little power.
In addition, the devices feature excellent gain flatness, with typical performance of 1.4 GHz at 3dB and 100 MHz at 0.1dB. They feature differential gain and differential phase of 0.01% and 0.03 degrees, respectively. Both devices operate with supply voltages ranging from a single 5-volt to 10-volt supply or off a split +/-5V supply, and have a wide common mode output range. The EL5166 incorporates an enable and disable function to reduce the supply current to 100 microamps per amplifier. As with all current feedback amplifiers, CFA stability is dependent upon the feedback resistor used.
This thoroughly deserved award for the EL5166 from analogZONE is also a poignant reminder of the Elantec roots still coming to the fore in video, McGoldrick concluded.
Intersil ISL6561 Multiphase PWM Controller
Intersils ISL6561 is a precision 2- to 4-phase PWM controller IC for new VRM10-based platforms. The ISL6561 IC is the worlds first PWM controller to offer designers a choice of either lower MOSFET RDS(ON) or output inductor DCR (DC Resistance) current-sensing topologies.
The ISL6561 is targeted for new VRM10 desktop, workstation, and server designs where reliability, and precision performance are critical. The controller provides 0.5% system accuracy over load, line and temperature.
The ISL6561 precision controller provides VRM10 platform designers with everything they need to meet stringent performance, space and cost requirements, said McGoldrick. It meets all VRM10 specifications and gives designers the freedom of choice for either of the popular current-sensing techniques.
The ISL6561 senses the output current by utilizing patented techniques to measure the voltage across the RDS(ON) of the lower MOSFETs or DCR of the output inductor during their conduction intervals. Current sensing provides the needed signals for precision droop, channel-current balancing and over-current protection. The accuracy of the RDS(ON) current-sensing method is enhanced by the ISL6561s integrated temperature compensation function. The ISL6561 uses an internal temperature-sensing element to provide programmable temperature compensation, eliminating the need for an external thermistor.
A unity gain, differential amplifier is provided for remote voltage sensing. Any potential difference between remote and local grounds can be completely eliminated using the remote-sense amplifier. In addition, Dynamic VID technology allows seamless on-the-fly VID (Voltage Identification number) changes. The offset pin allows accurate voltage offset settings that are independent of the VID setting. The ISL6561 has a built-in shunt regulator to allow 12-V-only bias using a small external limiting resistor. Differential current sensing further enhances current sensing accuracy because any errors introduced by an asymmetrical multiphase layout are offset.
About analogZONE
Found online at www.analogzone.com, analogZONE offers timely content tailored to the needs of design engineers specializing in analog applications. Regular weekly features include product reviews, technical notes, guest articles, news items, and more; and the publication has a reputation for incisive product understanding as well as a broad worldwide readership. Proposals for technical papers and columns are welcomed: send inquiries to the editor at pjm@analogzone.com. Site sponsorships may be arranged through Patricia Macsata of the R.W. Walker Company (Pmacsata@analogzone.com.) 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. Elantec is a registered trademark of Intersil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
