News & Events
Intersil’s Family of Multiple-Output Power Controllers Deliver A Complete Motherboard Power Solution

-- Three new power management ICs targeted at the ACPI power management initiative

PALM BAY, FL, December 6, 1999 -- Intersil Corporation announced today the HIP6500, HIP6501A, and HIP6502 multiple-output regulators targeted at computer motherboards supporting the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) power management specification. Intersil’s ACPI circuits provide board designers with simple, cost-effective ways to implement a full motherboard power solution, without sacrificing ease-of-use, flexibility or adaptability.

The HIP6501A is a triple linear controller, whereas the HIP6500 and HIP6502 regulate and control five voltage planes. The HIP6501A replaces as many as 29 external components used in a discrete ACPI power management implementation. The HIP6500 and HIP6502 replace up to 35 discrete components by integrating two additional regulators. While reducing Printed Circuit Board (PCB) area and Surface-Mount component placement costs, the HIP6500, HIP6501A, and HIP6502 improve system reliability. They interface with the computer system through four digital lines, enabling four support configurations and ACPI interface control that allows the computer operating system to control the system hardware and delegate power delivery according to the requirements of each individual sub-system block. In addition, the HIP6500, HIP6501A, and HIP6502 offer a host of system monitoring and protection features such as soft start, over current, under voltage protection, over temperature, and prevention of "illegal" ACPI state transitions.

The implementation of the HIP6500, HIP6501A, and HIP6502 in the ACPI power system is simple and beneficial to the system designer. After following the recommended application circuit, only the selection of output capacitors and transistors varies. The regulator then operates seamlessly with the ACPI software, regulating sleep-state voltages.

"Our development team asked themselves the question: If we were motherboard designers, how would we implement ACPI power management in the simplest, most economical and robust fashion?" said Steve Rivet, Director of Intersil's Desktop/Server Power Management Products Group. "The answer was our ACPI power controller IC family. These devices are sophisticated, yet easy-to-use. The product family enables hardware designers to focus on other critical system design tasks, resulting in a dramatic reduction of product Time-To-Market (TTM)" .

The HIP6500, HIP6501A, and HIP6502 utilize an ATX supply ("silver box") and work in conjunction with the HIP6020/21 four-in-one PWM (Pulse-Width-Modulated) controllers and Intersil’s 30V n-channel UltraFETs to simplify and optimize the power supply design on ACPI-compliant motherboards.

Technical Information About the HIP650X
Whenever possible, compatibility with driving external bipolar transistors was designed into the integrated circuit, reducing system cost relative to motherboard regulators utilizing only MOSFETs. Up-integration and intelligent design result in the HIP6500, HIP6501A and HIP6502 requiring only eight external components to regulate the ACPI active or sleep-state voltages needed on today’s motherboards. The HIP6500, HIP6501A, and HIP6502 also employ a built-in 200 nanosecond delay when processing either an S3 or S5 request. The integrated delay enables proper active-to-sleep state (S0-to-S5) transitions. .

The HIP6501A regulates the 5V dual voltage plane needed for the universal serial bus, keyboard and mouse; the 3.3V dual voltage plane needed for the peripheral component interface slots; and the 2.5V/3.3V memory plane needed for Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) and Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM). The HIP6500 regulates two additional voltages: the 3.3V stand-by and 2.5 clock voltage. The HIP6502 differs from the HIP6500 in that it combines the 3.3V dual voltage plane and 3.3V stand-by voltage planes in one output pin, and provides two individual 2.5V memory plane and 3.3V memory plane outputs for motherboards that utilize both RDRAM and SDRAM memories.

Pricing and Availability
The HIP6501A comes in a small 16-pin narrow-body SOIC package. The HIP6500 and HIP6502 are offered in 20-pin narrow-body SOIC packages. Pricing for the entire family is as follows:

Part Number     Package     10K Piece Price
HIP6500CB      20L SOIC       $2.07
HIP6501ACB     16L SOIC      $1.71
HIP6502CB      20L SOIC      $2.11.

About Intersil Corporation
Intersil Corporation uses analog, mixed-signal, power and radiation-hardening technologies to develop advanced integrated circuits and discrete semiconductors for high-growth segments of the communications, power and space/defense markets. Intersil Corporation employs 5,800 worldwide and utilizes the rich intellectual property heritage from Harris, GE Solid State and RCA. The company’s Web site is located at http://www.intersil.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Specific risks include worldwide demand and product pricing for integrated circuits, and reductions in the U.S. and worldwide defense and space budgets. In addition, Intersil cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends and events to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements.