ROHM’s BD70522GUL is an ultra-low-power DC/DC converter with integrated MOSFETs, which meets the requirements of the IoT market for a long battery life of up to ten years with a single coin battery due to its low power consumption of only 180nA.
In recent years, the number of battery-powered devices such as smartphones and wearables for IoT has risen sharply. This increases the demand for smaller components that not only offer greater design flexibility and more space for integrating new features, but also extend battery life by reducing power consumption. To meet the needs of the IoT market, ROHM has combined its vertically integrated production system, which leverages the company’s expertise in developing power components, with Nano Energy technology and has developed an ultra-low-power DC/DC converter with a current consumption of 180nA.
The BD70522GUL features minute dimensions of 1.76mm × 1.56mm × 0.57mm and switching frequencies of between 0 and 1MHz, depending on the load. It works with supply voltages from 2.5V to 5.5V. As output voltages, the IC supplies 1.2V, 1.5V, 1.8V, 2.0V, 2.5V, 2.8V, 3.0V, 3.2V or 3.3V. The accuracy of the output voltage is ±2.0% (at 10mA), the maximum output current 500mA. The operating temperature range is between -40°C and +85°C. The new DC/DC converter is ideal for compact battery-powered devices such as wearables, sensor nodes and other industrial equipment such as alarms, electronic shelf labels, etc.
Both the BD70522GUL and its evaluation board (BD70522GUL-EVK-101) are available for purchase through online distributors.
Background information
The newly developed BD70522GUL ultra-low-power DC/DC power converter IC offers the following features:
1. Nano Energy technology facilitates the industry’s lowest power consumption of 180nA
Utilising Nano Energy technology, based on low-current analogue technologies for control circuitry and analogue layout optimised for power supply ICs, and its 0.35µm BiCDMOS power processes, ROHM was able to realise the ultra-low current consumption of 180nA.
According to a study by ROHM, the low power consumption increases no-load (standby) operation battery life 1.4 times over conventional solutions.
2. High efficiency over a wide load current range
In addition to the low-loss MOSFETs, a Seamless Switching Mode Control (SSMC) function is integrated, which automatically switches the load mode depending on the load current. The DC/DC converter developed by ROHM delivers a high power conversion efficiency of more than 90% over a wide load range from 10µA to 500mA and consumes less than 1µA in standby mode. This increases the battery life of numerous devices and applications.
Nano Energy technology
Nano Energy technology is a breakthrough, ultra-low current consumption technology developed by combining ROHM’s vertically integrated production system with analogue expertise in circuit design, layout and processes. In portable devices, including wearables, smartphones, etc. this permits long-term operation with smaller batteries.
ROHM Semiconductor | www.rohm.com/eu