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Date: 05/06/2022

Four best below 1-A DC-DC converter Ics for wearbles and smart IoT

Except you have a highly regulated constant DC Power bus, in all other cases you need a DC DC converter IC, or a direct AC/DC converter IC in every electronic systems you design. And further for some ICs and circuit blocks on printed circuit board with different voltage requirements you may also need some stand-alone DC/DC converters or low dropout linear regulators. Along with the voltage and current ratings, the most important thing you look while selecting DC DC converter IC is power conversion efficiency. For compact and portable electronic systems the size of the device also matters. However the range of other specifications and functionalities you seek in selecting the dC-DC converter include external components required, noise performance, switching speed, quiscent current, harsh weather withstanding ability, and safety and protection features.

Let's look at some of the buck type DC -DC converters with in the current range of less 1 A recently released in the market for space and power constrained applications such as wearables and any such tiny portable electronics including smart IoT.

1. XCL232 Low Power Step-Down Micro DC/DC:

The XCL232 from Torex offers a low Quiescent current of 200 Na and offers a power efficiency of above 80% even at low output currents. XCL232 takes a PCB space of 2.5 mm x 2.0 mm and a height of 1.04 mm. This device does not require external inductor. For this performance XCL232 is suggested for applications such as wearables, smart meters, and sensor modules. The input voltage range of XCL232 inch 1.8 V to 6 V. And provides output voltage in the range of 0.5 V to 1.9 V, and 2.0 V To 3.6 V. But the output current capacity is only 150 Ma. These devices does not need any additional components except for some suppression/filter capacitors. This device is protected against short-circuit.

To learn more details about this product visit:
https://www.torex-usa.com/xcl232/


2. ST1PS01 400 Ma nano-quiescent synchronous step-down converter

ST1PS01 from STMicroelectronics offers power conversion efficiency of 94% at 1 Ma load, while using the external inductor of inductance 2.2 Micro Henries. With the input voltage range of 1.8 V to 5.5 V, it can deliver output voltage in the range of 0.625 V to 3.3 V at output current capability up to 400 Ma. The Quiescent current of 100% duty cycle ST1PS01 is 500 Na. ST1PS01 is available in Flip-Chip package of size 1.14 mm x 1.44 mm. The other interesting features include undervoltage lockout, dynamic full voltage selection, embedded soft start circuit. The application suggested for this DC DC converter IC includes wearable, tracking devices, smart watches Sportsbands, energy harvesting wireless sensors and Zigbee/Bluetooth RF interfaced IOT devices for both industrial as well and consumer applications.

For more details on this product please visit:
https://www.st.com/en/power-management/st1ps01.html
The datasheet is available at:
https://www.st.com/resource/en/datasheet/st1ps01.pdf


3. TPS63900 from Texas instruments, a buck- boost converter with a quiescent current of 75 Na. with the input voltage range of 1.8 V to 5.5 V it can produce 32 user programmable output voltages in the range of 1.8 V to 5 Volts with a output current of 400 Ma. TPS63900 delivers a power conversion efficiency of 90% at 10 ľa load current. The other interesting features include good transient performance, soft start, programmable input current limit, output short-circuit and overtemperature protection. The physical size dimensions of this device is 2.5mmx 2.5mm x 0.5 mm. To complete the DC/DC converter circuit using this IC, you need 2.2 Uh inductor and 22 Uf output capacitor.
The suggested applications include smart meters, industrial IoT smart sensor modules, smart locks, patient/health monitoring devices, medical sensor patches, wearable electronics, and trackers.

One more close cousin of above TPS63900 is TI's recent TPS61094, a 60-Na quiescent current boost converter with super capacitor management. The device provides a powersupply solution for smart meter and super capacitor.

For further details on TPS63900 product visit:https://www.ti.com/product/TPS63900
The datasheet is available at:
https://www.ti.com/product/TPS63900
For further details on TPS61094:
https://www.ti.com/product/TPS61094
The datasheet is available at:
https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tps61094.pdf

4. Npm1100 from Nordic Semiconductor both for charging and powering circuit

Nordic Semiconductor's DC-DC converter IC Npm1100 can be used for charging batteries and also powering circuits. Npm1100 can delivery output current of 150 Ma at output voltage range of 1.8 V to 3V. With a power conversion efficiency of 92%, Npm1100 can accept input voltage in the range of 4.1 V to 6.7V. Npm1100 is suggested for applications such as wearables, remote controls, personal medical devices and smart home sensors.

It can charge lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries on a termination voltage selectable to 4.1 or 4.2 V supporting cell chemistries with a nominal voltage of 3.6 and 3.7 V. Supporting three charging modes of constant voltage constant current and trickle mode, Npm1100 can be set to charging current of 20 Ma to 400 Ma. This device also featured discharge current limitation allowing charging batteries the USB. This chip physical dimensions measure 2mm x 2mm. It feautres a quiescent current of 700nA and can also be reduced to 470 Na in ship mode.

More details on this product is available at:
https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/Npm1100
The datasheet is available at:
https://nsscprodmedia.blob.core.windows.net/prod/software-and-other-downloads/product-briefs/npm1100-pmic-pb-1.1.pdf

Author: Srinivasa Reddy N
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