Power Management IC (PMIC) basics and its manufacturer companies
The IC (Integrated Circuit) used for various power management tasks is called PMIC. It reduces space requirement to greater extent in battery powered devices such as mobile phones, IoT end devices such as smart watches and other smart devices. These ICs are solid state devices which control flow of electrical power. The popular manufacturers or companies of PMIC are Analog devices, Maxim, STMicroelectronics, TI, NXP, RENESAS, Microchip technology as listed in the table below.
Following are the typical functions of a PMIC.
• It performs DC to DC conversion.
• It can charge the battery on board.
• It can help in power source or power path selection.
• It does voltage scaling.
• It is used for power sequencing on the board.
• It can be used for voltage supervision i.e. for overvoltage and
undervoltage protection.
Power Management IC companies
Following table mentions PMIC manufacturers with part numbers and technical features.
| PMIC Manufacturers | Description |
|---|---|
| Analog Devices, Inc. |
• Model : LTC3559 (Linear Technology Corporation) • Offers Linear Charger and Two Buck Regulators • Programmable charge current : Upto 950 mA • Adjustable output voltage : 0.8 V to VBAT |
| Maxim Integrated |
• Model : MAX77714 (13 regulators (4x Buck regulators and 9x Low Dropout Linear regulators),
8 GPIOs, RTC (Real Time Clock), I2C interface and Flexible Power sequencing) • Model : MAX77650/MAX77651, Features include 3 Output SIMO Buck Boost regulator, Smart power selector Li+/Li-Poly Charger, Interfaces such as I2C and GPIOs etc. |
| STMicroelectronics |
• Model : L5965
(Features include two battery compatible BUCK preregulators, two BUCK post regulators with internal
compensation, one BOOST, one LDO and a precise voltage reference regulator, SPI interface with CRC, Power up phase programmable via OTP ) • Other PMIC Models : STPMIC1, STPMIC02 |
| TI |
• TI offers many versions of PMIC • Visit : http://www.ti.com/power-management/multi-channel-ics-pmic/products.html • TI offers DIY PMIC solutions which can help in deciding output voltages, power sequencing, voltage monitoring thresholds, GPIO control and more • Few models include TPS650861, TPS6521815, TPS652170 and so on. |
| NXP semiconductor |
• Offers Power Management Solutions for Automotive, consumer, networking and industrial markets. • PMICs for various families of processors are available. • Switching and linear regulators are available on single PMIC. • Models : Low voltage power management ICs ( PF series ), VR500 and VR5100 for networking |
| RENESAS |
• Model ISL95862 (For Notebook, Ultrabook and tablet computers) • Features : 1+1+1 PMIC with integrated MOSFETs for Intel IMVP8 CPUs, I2C interface |
| Microchip |
• Model : MIC7401 • Features : Configurable, 5 channel Buck regulator, one boost with hyper light load, I2C interface up to 3.4MHz |
The other companies include ON semiconductor, Infineon Technologies, ROHM semiconductor, Dialog Semiconductor, MediaTek, Cypress Semiconductor, Silicon Labs etc. These companies offer a wide range of PMIC products catering to various applications and industries, including consumer electronics, automotive, industrial automation, telecommunications, and more.