Maxim Power Management Solution Sets Industry's Standard with Highest Efficiency of 96% and Lowest Quiescent Current of 6 µA to Boost Runtime of Portable Devices

MAX77827 1.5 A buck-boost converter extends battery life and provides 81% I_Q improvement compared to competitor, while enabling system stability

With the lowest quiescent current (I_Q) in its class of 6 µA, as well as the highest peak efficiency of 96 percent in the market, designers can now maximize a portable device's battery life with the MAX77827 buck-boost converter from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.. This 1.5 A high-efficiency, compact converter allows 1.8 V to 5.5 V input and 2.3 V to 5.3 V output, while providing the system stability needed to minimize abrupt or unexpected shutdowns. The MAX77827 addresses the power requirements of low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) applications, asset tracking devices and many Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

The growing lithium-ion battery market is largely driven by an increasing inclination towards smart electronic devices with expanding functionalities packed within. Primary cell batteries based on Lithium Thionyl Chloride (Li-SOCl2) chemistry or dual-cell Alkaline (AA or AAA) with operations as low as 1.8 V is also gaining popularity in the long-life portable market segment. However, regardless of the types of batteries used, these devices will discharge through a wide range of voltages while sustaining a power rail between 2.8 V to 3.8 V, specifically for powering MCU, Wi-Fi, BLE and GPS features. The traditional buck or bypass boost plus low dropout (LDO) topologies are not ideal solutions for these sophisticated devices because they are not the most efficient at prolonging battery life. Additionally, a simple buck converter topology may cause earlier system shutdown when battery voltage is high to maintain the required power for the aforementioned applications, leaving underutilized battery capacity.

With the lowest quiescent current in the market, highest efficiency gains and small solution size, the MAX77827 buck-boost converter sets the standard for maximizing battery life. It is an ideal solution to support applications with low power requirements because, regardless of the battery voltage variations, it can automatically transition between buck and boost modes to provide a consistent output power supply. Compared with the current means of utilizing a bypass boost converter followed by an LDO, the MAX77827 improves efficiency by up to 12 percent. Compared with utilizing a buck converter, it allows continuous system operation with lower voltage from the battery to further utilize the battery capacity. The MAX77827 is the latest buck-boost converter in Maxim's portfolio.

Key Advantages

• Longer Battery Life: offers lowest quiescent current in its class of 1.5 A buck-boost converters at 6 µA (81 percent lower than closest competitor) and prolongs battery run-time for applications that run as low as 1.8 V. It features 96 percent system efficiency regardless of buck or boost modes and is consistently superior across the load range versus closest competitor.

• Better System Stability: provides system stability to minimize abrupt or unexpected shutdown, including fast line transient response for a seamless mode transition between buck and boost modes to keep systems running steadily. During mode transition when V_OUT is set to 3.3 V with a 15 µs rise/fall time, the ripple is less than 1 percent of the output voltage. Fast load transient response provides stable system voltage from transient loads pulling down the system voltage. In extreme harsh conditions of going from 0 A to 1 A load in 15 µs, MAX77827 undershoot is controlled to 6 percent of the output voltage where the undershoot of the competitive solution is 12 percent with a longer recovery time.

• Small Form Factor: supports space-constrained designs with its 2.04 mm × 1.64 mm WLP size and less than 15 mm² total solution size. It features a single external resistor to set the output voltage to provide additional savings to an external component and board space.

source: Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. press release