Smart power design for smart factories

Designing power supplies for factory automation equipment such as programmable logic controllers, transmitters, automated machinery, and human-machine interfaces can present numerous challenges. Even with increasing processing power, printed circuit board (PCB) area and overall device size often remain constant. To meet these stringent space constraints, power supply designs must be compact, efficient, and quiet; heat and noise are absolutely unacceptable. Furthermore, there are various industrial power supply requirements, including wide input voltage ranges, small solution sizes, and the ability to operate over high temperatures. Power supply designers must reduce component count and cost while providing reliable solutions that require minimal commissioning. Therefore, starting with integrated and powerful devices is paramount.

60V 2A Discrete Solution

               60V 2A Power Module Solution

Figure 1: The left image shows a 60V 2A discrete solution, where all passive components and inductors are selected by the designer. The right image shows the equivalent design using a power module. Most passive components and inductors are included in the module.

In the highest levels of power integration, a power module will at least include passive components, MOSFETs, and inductors in the package (Figure 1). The advantage of a power module is that it eliminates the task of selecting and evaluating inductors; it also simplifies PCB layout, eliminating the need to design external compensation networks. The SIMPLE SWITCHER® LMZ36002 equal-width input voltage device is an ideal solution for addressing power supply design challenges. The SIMPLE SWITCHER LMZ36002 is an integrated power module that combines a 60V, 2A DC/DC converter with a shielded inductor and passive components into a flat, leadless package.

The LMZ36002 power module is an easy-to-use integrated power supply that combines a 2A DC/DC converter with a shielded inductor and passive components into a flat QFN package. This total power solution allows for the use of only three external components while maintaining the ability to adjust key parameters to meet specific design requirements.

The QFN package is easy to solder onto printed circuit boards, allows for reflow profiles up to 245°C, and offers excellent power dissipation capabilities. The LMZ36002 boasts numerous features and is highly flexible, making it ideal for powering a wide variety of devices and systems.

The SIMPLE SWITCHER LMZ36002 is ideal for designers seeking higher power density, featuring the smallest solution size in its class, requiring only three external components and a small 10 mm x 10 mm package.

Designers can use WEBENCH® Power Designer to create custom LMZ36002 designs (see this sample design for V IN = 10V-60V and V OUT = 5V at 2A). To design for other specifications, enter the inputs in the "Change Inputs" section and click "Submit". This will create a custom design. You can further analyze the design by performing electrical and thermal simulations, and even export the schematics and custom layouts to popular CAD formats once you are ready to prototype the design.

For power supply designers looking to take their designs to the next level, the TI Designs Space Optimized Wide V IN Triple Output Power Module Reference Design powers a 24V power rail and provides three point-of-load output voltages: 3.3V, 1.8V, and 1.2V (Figure 2). This reference design utilizes the LMZ36002 wide V IN power module and two LMZ20502 power modules.

The LMZ20502 miniature module regulator is an easy-to-use synchronous buck DC/DC converter capable of driving up to 2A of load current from an input voltage of up to 5.5V, delivering excellent efficiency and output accuracy in a very small solution size. This innovative package incorporates the regulator and inductor into a compact 3.5mm × 3.5mm × 1.75mm form factor, saving board space and avoiding the time and cost associated with inductor selection. The LMZ20502 requires only five external components, and its pinout design allows for a simple, optimized PCB layout. This device provides a complete, easy-to-use design solution using a minimal number of external components and TI's WEBENCH® design tools. TI's WEBENCH tools include features such as external component calculations, circuit simulation, and WebTherm™.

This layout is optimized for space-constrained systems, with a total solution size of approximately 400 mm².

Figure 2: The left side shows the TIDA-00783 space-optimized reference design. The right side is a high-level block diagram illustrating how to use three modules to step down from 24V IN to the point-of-load voltage. 

In summary, there are multiple approaches to power supply design. However, for users who want to create designs that don't require a lot of time, have limited board space, or simply want a simple solution with a high power-to-space ratio without sacrificing performance, modules may be the best solution.