PWM controllers improve efficiency at light load

In line with Fairchild Semiconductor’s focus on energy savings, the company has launched a portfolio of pulse-width modulated (PWM) controllers that enable notebook power-supply designers to meet stringent international energy-saving regulations, including the ENERGY STAR External Power Supply (EPS) version 2.0 requirements that mandate 87 percent average active-mode efficiency to obtain compliance.

Fairchild’s integrated PWM controllers, including the FAN6754, offer designers high-voltage startup to improve energy savings at light load by 25 percent when compared to alternate solutions. The devices also eliminate external protection circuits by incorporating over-voltage, over-current and over-temperature protection plus brownout and line-compensation functions.

Another feature of Fairchild’s PWM controllers is frequency hopping, which reduces EMI emissions by up to 5dB to 10dB. The products also incorporates several design features that lower the overall power consumption of notebook adapters, such as a proprietary green-mode function that provides off-time modulation to continuously decrease the switching frequency under light-load conditions.

Fairchild Semiconductor is one of the leaders in delivering energy-efficient power analog and discrete solutions worldwide. The company provides leading-edge silicon and packaging technologies for consumer, communications, industrial, portable, computing and automotive systems. According to Mark Thompson, Chairman, CEO and President of the company, key market drivers for 2010 will include the home appliance segment, especially with the emergence of the U.S. government-backed ENERGY STAR program; the shift from general motors to brushless DC motors, which will improve motor drive efficiencies; hybrid solutions in cars; LED lighting applications, including displays using LEDs instead of fluorescent; and alternative energy.

Fairchild Semiconductor