Intersil Releases Advanced Two-Channel Synchronous-Buck MOSFET Driver IC Packed with Protection Features and Cost Savings

Business Wire, July 7, 2004

MILPITAS, Calif. -- New Driver Offers Industry-Leading Pre-Enable over-Voltage Protection, High Thermal Efficiency and Reduced Costs for Both Bill-of-Materials and Manufacturing

Intersil Corporation (Nasdaq:ISIL), a world leader in the design and manufacture of high performance analog solutions, today announced the Endura(TM) ISL6614, an advanced two-channel synchronous-buck MOSFET driver IC. The ISL6614 is designed for high-current DC-DC converters used in a wide range of datacom, telecom, point-of-load and computing applications. A power converter utilizing the ISL6614 and one of Intersil's ISL65XX PWM controllers results in a solution that delivers the industry's highest performance-to-cost value.

"The ISL6614 offers exceptional performance and cost savings in a small SOIC or near-chip-scale 4 X 4 mm QFN package," said Cindy Drapcho, vice president of Intersil's Power Products. "Our pre-enable over-voltage protection is the industry's first over-voltage protection function that protects against over-voltage events, such as upper FET shorts, before the power supply is up and running. This protection feature prevents the load voltage from rising to dangerous levels that can potentially cause catastrophic damage. For example, the ISL6614 can save very expensive microprocessors from burning up in real-world scenarios where there is a short between upper FET leads."

"We designed the ISL6614 to provide the highest performance and protection while significantly reducing board space, parts count and costs to implement a multi-phase power solution," said Steve Rivet, senior marketing manager for Intersil's Desktop and Server Power Products. "This new MOSFET driver IC mates directly with an Intersil ISL65XX family multi-phase buck PWM controller to provide our customers with the industry's highest performance-to-cost value."

The advanced ISL6614 can sink up to 3-A of gate current for synchronous-buck configured N-channel MOSFETs and integrates a wide array of protection features, such as industry-leading pre-enable over-voltage protection. The pre-enable over-voltage protection function becomes operational before the FET driver VCC exceeds its turn-on (rising) threshold. Upon dc/dc converter power-up, and at a very low voltage the ISL6614 looks for over-voltage events, such as upper MOSFET shorts. When such an event is detected, the PHASE node is connected to the gate of the low-side MOSFET, limiting the output voltage of the converter to the gate-to-source threshold voltage of the low-side MOSFET. For complete protection the lower MOSFET gate threshold should be below the maximum voltage rating of the load.

The ISL6614 drives both upper and lower MOSFET gates over a range of 5 V to 12 V. This drive-voltage flexibility provides optimization of applications involving trade-offs between gate charge and conduction losses.

The three-state PWM input feature, working together with Intersil's multi-phase PWM controllers, prevents a negative transient on the output voltage when the output is shut down. This feature eliminates the Schottky diode that is used in some systems for protecting the load from reversed output voltage events, further reducing the bill-of-materials cost versus competitors' drivers.

Advanced adaptive zero shoot-through protection is integrated to prevent both the upper and lower MOSFETs from conducting simultaneously and to minimize the dead time. This significantly improves dc/dc converter efficiency.

An over-temperature protection feature prevents failures resulting from excessive power dissipation by shutting off the outputs when its junction temperature exceeds 150 degrees C (typically). The driver resets once its junction temperature returns to 108 degrees C (typically).

The ISL6614 also has a 36-V bootstrap pin rating that enables the MOSFET drivers to withstand switching node spikes, typically found in switch-mode dc/dc converters.

ISL6614 Technical Summary

--Pin-for-pin compatible with the HIP6602 family for easy performance upgrade

--Drives two phases of sync-buck N-channel MOSFETs saving space and cost

--Adjustable gate drive voltage (5V to 12V) for optimal efficiency

--Bootstrap capacitor over-charging prevention

--Adaptive shoot-through protection reduces power loss and ensures reliability

--3-A current sink capability for solid control

--High-frequency switching to 1 MHz reduces component size and cost

--Three-state PWM input prevents output shutdown transient, eliminates protection Schottky

--Three-state PWM input hysteresis for applications with power sequencing requirements

--36-V internal bootstrap Schottky diode saves space, complexity and cost

--Pre-point-of-regulation over-voltage protection

--VCC under-voltage protection

--Over-temperature protection with 42 degree C hysteresis (150 C on and 108 C off)

--Auto-zero of RDS(ON) conduction offset effect

--4 X 4 mm, 16-pad, QFN package for enhanced thermal performance and space savings

--14-lead SOIC package option

--PB-free versions available

ISL6614 Pricing and Availability