Freescale reduces Atom standby power by 50X

Bernard Cole
iApplianceWeb
(06/17/10, 8:15 AM GMT)

Dallas, Texas -  Using a reference board supplied to it by Intel, Freescale Semiconductor Inc. used its power IC chip set to reduce the power consumption of Intel Corp.'s Atom Z6xx chipset by 50-fold, which could significantly extend the  battery lifetime of smartphones and other mobile devices using Atom.

The Freescale's power management chips used in the Atom reference design were built using the company’s 130-nanometer mixed signal SmartMOS process which also provide intelligent battery charging, audio codecs, 24-bit DACs, 10-bit ADCs, headphone and speaker power amplifiers, LED backlight drivers, DC:DC converters, USB On-The-Go, GPIOs, differential touch-screen and other interface functions necessary for any mobile handset, netbook, eReader, iPad-like tablet or other portable consumer devices.

Intel’s reference design board for the low-power version of Atom Z6xx and MP20 support chip has a socket for a power management daughter board.

Freescale’s solution was used to allow different parts of the processor can be powered down as appropriate to extend battery life—all under control of the power management chipsets, the management IC and a second one to convert voltage from a battery into the 3.3 volts needed by its main PMIC.

By separating the voltage conversion function onto a second small chip, Freescale claims that thermal management in handset design is simplified as well as allowing alternative power sources to be easily integrated with its main power management IC.

Freescale is already in volume production of its power management IC and claims to already have multiple design-wins at original equipment and device manufacturers (OEMs and ODMs) with the first handsets based on its chipset due to hit the market later this year.

To learn more, go to www.freescale.com.  

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