A new chipset claims to have simplified the LLC resonant power converter design by combining LLC resonant control with synchronous rectification to bolster efficiency and slash component count by 40%. The HiperLCS-2 chipset unveiled by Power Integrations delivers 250 W with over 98 percent efficiency and no heatsink.
Figure 1 The chipset simplifies the LLC design by combining the LLC controller HiperLCS2-HB with synchronous rectifier HiperLCS2-SR. Source: Power Integrations
Resonant converters—typically used when a power application requires a level of efficiency unachievable with single-switch topologies like flyback converters—have been using separate controllers and discrete MOSFETs. That, however, leads to bulky and notoriously difficult-to-manufacture resonant converters that embody design complexity and high component count.
Power Integration’s answer to this design challenge: a dual-chip solution that combines resonant switch with synchronous rectifier, eliminating heatsinks and unreliable autocouplers and reducing the component count by up to 40% compared to discrete designs. That enables developers to create compact adapters and open-frame power supplies for TVs, monitors with USB PD ports, all-in-one PCs, game consoles, and battery chargers for power tools and e-bikes.
Figure 2 The chipset supports a wide range of applications, including TV, monitors with USB PD, e-bikes and tool chargers, printers and projectors, and general-purpose adapters. Source: Power Integrations
The two chips are housed in a low-profile InSOP-24 package. The first chip, a 600 V FREDFET switch, facilitates lossless current sensing to facilitate 98.1% full-load efficiency. The second chip, a high-speed LLC controller, utilizes the FluxLink feedback mechanism to avoid the compromises normally associated with the LLC topology.
It allows engineers to quickly and consistently implement designs with a wide operating range and low component count. The use of the proprietary FluxLink technology for safety-isolated high-speed digital feedback control provides much faster transient response and far superior long-term reliability than optocouplers.
Power Integrations claims that with its HiperLCS-2 chipset, power supply designers can achieve no-load input power of less than 50 mW at 400 VDC input and provide a continuously regulated output while complying with the world’s most stringent no-load and standby efficiency regulations. Moreover, designers wanting to evaluate the HiperLCS-2 chipset can download the reference design DER-672.
The HiperLCS-2 chipset pricing starts at $3.20 per chipset in 10,000-unit quantities.
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