Power Management IC aids in design of portable electronics.

Press Release Summary:



Housed in 4 x 5 mm package, LTC3555 USB Power Manager and Triple Step-Down DC/DC Converter incorporates range of power management functions, including switching PowerPath(TM) manager, stand-alone battery charger, 3 monolithic buck regulators, and always-on LDO, controlled via I2C interface. PowerPath control manages power flow between AC/DC wall adapter, USB port, Li-Ion/Polymer battery, and system load, while providing up to 1.5 A to system from wall adapter.



Original Press Release:



New Line of Power Management Chips from Linear Technology Allows Designers to Optimize Portable Power



MILPITAS, Calif., May 14 /- Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC), a leading supplier of high performance analog integrated circuits, today announced the introduction of a new line of power management chips that combines unique high performance power functions in compact formats for use in a wide range of portable electronic products. The new product line provides designers with simple, compact and reliable power management integrated circuits (PMICs) that combine the key power functions for products including media players, digital cameras, smart phones, personal navigation devices, PDAs, satellite radios, point-of-sale terminals, portable medical equipment and a host of other lithium battery-powered devices.

Linear Technology's new PMIC product family promises to ease the design process for portable electronic products, while maintaining the high level of performance and power efficiency demanded by today's system designers. The new product family leverages the company's core strength in power management by delivering a new class of PMICs that enables designers to mix and match key power management attributes for optimal product efficiency, size and performance.

"This new line of high performance power management chips allows us to significantly expand the market opportunity for our products," stated Lothar Maier, CEO of Linear Technology. "By leveraging the company's deep expertise in power management, we are providing our customers with a new class of products that extends Linear Technology's lead in innovative power solutions."

"Today's designers are challenged to develop portable electronic products in increasingly short time-frames that are both highly compact and efficient in power delivery," according to Don Paulus, Vice President and General Manager of Linear Technology's Power Management Products. "Our new PMIC family provides a new level of performance by combining all the key power functions needed for each application. We are confident that this new family of power management products will be a significant enabler for the next generation of sophisticated portable electronic products."

Linear's new LTC35XX PMIC family was developed in response to the growing need for power management solutions for portable electronic products that are powered from a range of sources including AC wall adapters, USB ports, lithium-ion/polymer batteries and automotive power ports. The combination of thermal constraints, battery runtime requirements, and increasing device power demands presents a growing challenge for today's system designers. With this new PMIC family, Linear Technology provides designers with a palette of power management functions, allowing the selection of the most appropriate power management solution for the target application.

Since today's portable products are ever-shrinking in size, Linear has responded by introducing power management solutions that are highly compact, providing a new level of power density with no compromises.

The first device in Linear's new PMIC family, the LTC3555 USB Power Manager and Triple Step-Down DC/DC Converter, is now available, with other devices in the family now sampling and planned for production release over the next several months. The device incorporates a range of power management functions including a switching PowerPath(TM) manager, a stand-alone battery charger, three monolithic buck regulators and always-on LDO, controlled via an I2C interface, housed in a tiny 4mm x 5mm package. The device's switching PowerPath control feature seamlessly manages power flow between an AC/DC wall adapter, USB port, lithium-ion/polymer battery and system load, while maximizing power available from the USB and providing up to 1.5A to the system from the wall adapter. The chip's "instant-on" feature ensures system power, even with a dead or missing battery.

Linear Technology's integrated circuits provide an essential bridge between our analog world and the digital microelectronics used pervasively in a broad range of industrial, computer and communications systems. The company has developed a leading position in high performance power management semiconductors. Linear produces a broad range of high performance analog circuits with applications in automotive, computer, communications, digital consumer, industrial, medical instrumentation, security, and wireless systems.

About Linear Technology
Linear Technology Corporation, a manufacturer of high performance linear integrated circuits, was founded in 1981, became a public company in 1986 and joined the S&P index of major public companies in 2000. Linear Technology products include high performance amplifiers, comparators, voltage references, monolithic filters, linear regulators, DC-DC converters, battery chargers, data converters, communications interface circuits, RF signal conditioning circuits, and many other analog functions. Applications for Linear Technology's high performance circuits include telecommunications, cellular telephones, networking products such as optical switches, notebook and desktop computers, computer peripherals, video/multimedia, industrial instrumentation, security monitoring devices, high-end consumer products such as digital cameras and MP3 players, complex medical devices, automotive electronics, factory automation, process control, and military and space systems. For more information, visit www.linear.com

For information: Call 1-800-4-LINEAR or visit www.linear.com

Note: LT, LTC, and LTM are registered trademarks of Linear Technology Corporation. PowerPath is a trademark of Linear Technology Corp.

CONTACT: John Hamburger of Linear Technology Corporation, +1-408-432-1900, or jhamburger@linear.com

All Topics