Powering Freight & Transportation - Power Systems Design

24
ON THE ROAD
On the Road
Reported by Cliff Keys, Editor-in-Chief, PSDE
I visited Fairchild’s facility in Portland, Maine, US, and had the opportunity to speak with Guy Moxley,
Fairchild’s Senior Director of Low Voltage Marketing. He took me through the company’s latest
contribution to their drive for industry power efficiency.
Fairchild’s Next Generation DrMOS Delivers 92% Efficiency
Fairchild’s Multi-Chip Modules follow
the traditional definition in that they are
the integration of switching, control and
driver ICs, and passive components
to form a system to achieve the most
optimal solution for a given application
using components that are matched
electrically, thermally and mechanically.
The ever problematic EMI has been
minimized by Fairchild’s engineers by
judicious layout and lead configuration
within the module itself to provide a
complete solution.
TinyBuckTM Multi-Chip Module with Intelstandard
DrMOS driver plus MOSFETs.
With today’s increased focus on efficiency,
several government organizations
are driving energy efficiency initiatives
such as Energy Star and Climate
Savers by Google and Intel who are driving
for significant reduction of electricity
costs in servers by IT departments,
increased focus on smaller form factors
for blade and rack servers and smaller
desktop PCs.
TinyBuckTM is Fairchild’s family
of fully-integrated synchronous buck
converter switching regulator solutions.
These products include a controller IC,
a driver IC, one high-side MOSFET one
low-side MOSFET in a space-¬efficient
MLP package.
DrMOS is an Intel standard that defines
the specifications and functionality
of a FET-plus-Driver multi-chip module.
Fairchild worked extensively with Intel on
the development of this specification and
offers an extensive portfolio of DrMOS
modules in two versions: 8mmX8mm
and 6mmX6mm MLP packages.
Fairchild’s DrMOS, the FDMFxxxx series,
is a complete family of fully optimized,
integrated FET-plus-Driver multi-chip power
stage modules designed for multiple
synchronous buck converter applications.
These multi-chip modules are designed to
achieve the optimal solution using components
that are accurately matched.
Fairchild Semiconductor has recently
introduced its XS DrMOS, the industry’s
first high-performance and spaceefficient
6mm x 6mm DrMOS solution
for synchronous DC-DC buck regulators
for computing, game console and
consumer Point-of-Load (POL) applications.
The FDMF6704 is a FET-Plus-
Driver module that replaces one driver
IC, one high-side MOSFET, two low-side
MOSFETS and one bootstrap Schottky
diode in an ultra-compact package. The
thermally enhanced 6mm x 6mm MLP
package saves 84 percent board space
compared to discrete solutions and 44
percent compared to 8mm x 8mm MLP
packaged DrMOS modules. It delivers
92 percent peak efficiency, enabling
applications to meet stringent energy-efficiency
specifications such as ENERGY
STAR ® , Climate Savers ® and Green
Grid SM .
The XS DrMOS family is
Fairchild’s next-generation fully optimized
ultra-compact integrated MOSFET
plus driver power stage solution for high
current, high frequency synchronous
buck DC-DC applications. With an integrated
approach, the complete switching
power stage is optimized with regards
to driver and MOSFET dynamic performance,
system inductance and R DS(ON).
This greatly reduces the package parasitics
and layout challenges associated
with conventional discrete solutions. The
driver IC incorporates advanced features
such as SMOD. PWM input is Tri-
State compatible. A 5V gate drive and
an improved PCB interface [Low Side
MOSFET exposed pad] ensure higher
performance. This product is compatible
with the new Intel 6mm x 6mm DrMOS
specification.
With an abundance of advanced
features, the FDMF6704 has been
designed and optimized to work with a
wide variety of controllers in the market.
It is compatible with both Tri-State and
Non-Tri-State PWM controllers. To fur-
Power Systems Design October 2008