TI delivers ultra-low power conversion for wearable, sensor and industrial designs

DALLAS, Sept. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Delivering power management innovation for ultra-low power designs, Texas Instruments (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) today introduced the industry's smallest, lowest power linear battery charger and a tiny, fully integrated DC/DC power module, which consumes only 360 nA of quiescent current, to help extend battery run-time in wearable electronics, remote sensors and MSP430™ microcontroller-based applications.

Smallest, lowest power linear charger
The new bq25100 single-cell Li-Ion charger comes in a 0.9-mm by 1.6-mm WCSP package, and achieves a solution half the size of existing charger solutions. The device supports input voltages up to 30 V, and allows accurate control of fast-charge currents as low as 10 mA or as high as 250 mA, and precise charge termination down to 1 mA to support tiny Li-Ion coin batteries. The bq25100 also can support a leakage current of less than 75 nA to extend standby operation.

Designers also can add wireless charging capability to small portable and wearable applications by pairing the bq51003 2.5-W, Qi-compliant wireless charging receiver with the bq25100 linear charger on the same board. Both devices are featured on a new TI Design reference board that measures 75 mm2. In addition, TI has been supporting Humavox, an Israeli company operating in the wireless power technology area, to integrate the bq25100 in its wireless charging solutions for wearable devices and portable healthcare devices under Humavox's ETERNA™ RF-based wireless charging platform. 

MicroSiP power modules
TI's new TPS82740A and TPS82740B step-down converter modules support 200-mA output current with 95 percent conversion efficiency and consume only 360 nA of quiescent current during active operation and 70 nA during standby. The tiny modules rely on a fully integrated, 9-bump MicroSiP package, which incorporates a switching regulator, inductor and input/output capacitors to achieve a solution size of only 6.7 mm2.

The TPS82740A supports output voltages from 1.8 V to 2.5 V, while the TPS82740B supports 2.6 V to 3.3 V in 100-mV steps, which can meet power requirements of microcontrollers, such as TI's new ultra-low power MSP430FR59xx microcontrollers (MCUs), and Bluetooth® low energy solutions, such as the SimpleLink™ CC2540T wireless MCU.

Key benefits of the TPS82740A and TPS82740B:

  • Smallest 200-mA DC/DC solutions: Fully integrated MicroSiP modules include all passives, and achieve a 6.7-mm2 solution size, 75 percent smaller than discrete solutions.
  • Lowest power, highest performance: Operates at only 360-nA quiescent current and 70 nA during standby. An integrated load switch and a 3-pin voltage select function optimize power consumption on the fly during operation.

Ultra-low power design
The bq25100 charger and TPS82740A and TPS82740B MicroSiP modules expand TI's portfolio of ultra-low power battery management and DC/DC converters that help maintain longer battery life and even enable battery-free operation in low-power designs. The bq25570, bq25505, TPS62740, TPS62737 and TPS62736 power devices achieve the industry's lowest levels of active quiescent current.

Availability and pricing
The bq25100 is shipping in volume production, and is priced at US$0.75 each in 1,000-unit quantities. The easy-to-use bq25100EVM-654 evaluation module can be ordered via TI eStore™. The TPS82740A and TPS82740B power modules are also shipping in volume production. Both modules come in a 2.3-mm by 2.9-mm by 1.1-mm MicroSiP package, and are priced at US$1.55 each in 1,000-unit quantities. Designers can order the TPS82740AEVM-617 and TPS82740BEVM-617 evaluation modules and download the PSpice transient module simulation software to simplify design and reduce development time.