Analog Devices Offers Integrated Hot Swap Controller and Digital Power Monitor to Enhance System Protection

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Analog Devices Offers Integrated Hot Swap Controller and Digital Power Monitor to Enhance System Protection [Copy link]

As processor power densities in rack-mounted (blade) personal computers ( PCs ) and communications systems continue to increase, the risk of unpredictable, potentially harmful transient power spikes and overheating is created. To enhance system protection, Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE : ADI ) today announced the release of the ADM1175-8 family of products in Norwood , Mass . The new products combine an integrated hot-swap controller and a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter ( ADC )-based digital power monitor to effectively measure and manage power consumption in blade PCs and telecommunications systems. The hot-swap controller protects cards from power and thermal transients and allows cards to be safely inserted and removed from a 2.7 V to 14 V powered backplane during operation. The digital power monitor, which consists of a current sense amplifier and 12-bit ADC , measures each card's power usage and sends the data to an off-chip controller via a digital interface. Because of the high level of integration of these chips, component costs are reduced by 33% over discrete solutions and performance is increased over existing solutions, from typically only 100 samples per second to 10,000 samples per second.

“These chips provide precise, robust, current-limited protection against transient and non-transient short circuits, as well as undervoltage and overcurrent conditions,” said Pat Meehan, product line director for the Power Management Division at Analog Devices. “In addition to standard hot-swap functionality, the built-in power monitor function allows design engineers to precisely monitor the power usage of each specific card within a given chassis system. Communication with the power monitor is also possible through the built-in I2C port.”

As new equipment designs pack individual blades tightly together, rack systems need to improve heat dissipation and require more complex and power-hungry cooling systems. In addition, the denser the blade system, the more power it consumes, and using existing standard alternating current ( AC ) current sources cannot always meet this demand. For both of these reasons, system design engineers need to effectively monitor and proactively control power usage.

The ADM1175-8 family is ideal for blade servers, blade PCs , and telecom circuit cards, such as Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture ( ATCA ) cards. Their power monitoring capabilities allow PCs and telecom servers to monitor the power required at any given time and share existing power resources among multiple blade configurations. These chips accomplish this by measuring power usage and digitally communicating this information through an industry-standard I2C interface to an off-chip controller to allocate power resources.

The power supply monitoring function of the ADM1175

The power monitoring function of the ADM1175 is provided by a current sense amplifier, which detects the voltage across the sense resistor in the power supply line. The amplifier is combined with a 12-bit ADC to measure the current flowing through the sense resistor and the power supply voltage at the VCC pin, and send this information to an off-chip controller in digital form. To date, most computer and telecommunication systems have not been able to monitor the use of power supplies or rely on costly discrete combination solutions (including current sense amplifiers and ADCs ).

In addition to the ADM1175-8 family of integrated hot-swap controllers and digital power monitors, Analog Devices also offers the ADM1191 and ADM1192 discrete digital power monitors that use built-in 10-bit ADCs to measure current and voltage. For more information, visit www.analog.com/ADM1191 .

Availability and Pricing

All members of the ADM1175-8 product family are sampling now and will be available in volume production in June 2006. The family is available in a small 10 - lead MSOP package ( small outline plastic package), with pricing starting at $ 2.50 per piece in 1,000-piece quantities. They are specified over the industrial temperature range of -40°C to +85°C .