Dialog introduces two power control IC products

     Dialog Semiconductor Corporation announced the launch of two power control ics, the iW1818 and iW1830, which not only significantly improve the reliability of white goods power systems, but also reduce material (BOM) costs. These two digital power control ics can be used in dishwashers, refrigerators, stoves, microwave ovens, and other high-volume home appliance systems.

     The white goods market is currently growing at an average annual rate of 3.8% and will reach 430 million unit shipments in 2017. Nowadays, most home appliances use secondary side control to ensure accurate output voltage adjustment to maintain the stable operation of the multiway output system. For example, a 5V output for a system microcontroller (MCU) requires a ±5% adjustment accuracy, while a 12V-16V output for motor or relay control requires a ±10% adjustment accuracy. However, the secondary side design requires the use of optocouplings, and the failure rate of optocouplings is significantly higher than that of other components in the power supply.

     Dialog's iW1818 and iW1830 AccuSwitch™ Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) controllers use their unique PrimAccurate™ primary edge control technology to not only eliminate weaknesses in optocoupling systems, but also reduce welding points that could lead to potential failures. Thus, the reliability of the home appliance power supply system is naturally improved, and the operating life of the system is increased. At the same time, the secondary regulator and optical coupling are eliminated and the material cost is reduced. Dialog's patented intelligent digital control loop technology provides accurate cross-regulation between multiple power outputs in the system.

     Davin Lee, senior vice president and general manager of the Semiconductor Power Conversion Business group at Dialog, said: "In the traditional perception, the use of primary side adjustment for white goods can eliminate optocouplings, but at the cost of sacrificing the accuracy of voltage cross adjustment. "Leveraging Dialog's long-standing expertise in digital control, the iW1818 and iW1830 combine the high reliability of the primary control design with the precise cross-regulation of the secondary control to enable lower cost, longer life appliance designs."