Nordic Semiconductor will release its third power management integrated circuit product

Nordic Semiconductor plans to expand its PMIC portfolio by releasing a third power management integrated circuit (PMIC) product in mid-2023. The nPM1300 expands the PMIC product range while supporting larger battery charging and four adjustable power rails. The nPM1300 will be optimized for efficiency and compact size (3.1 x 2.4 mm WL-CSP or 5 x 5 mm QFN), and can be digitally configured with an I2C compatible dual-wire interface (TWI). Different system administration functions, such as hard reset, battery fuel meter, system-level watchdog, power outage warning, and recovery after startup failures, are available to users through digital interfaces that are typically implemented as stand-alone features in Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) embedded designs.

Geir Kjosavik, PMIC Product Director at Nordic Semiconductor, said, "The reason Nordic entered the PMIC market is because existing power management solutions have not been optimized for compact, ultra-low power iot applications. Existing Pmics fail to help designers implement important functions using discrete components. These functions are naturally internal to PMIC and can be implemented at little extra cost. That's what we did. Nordic customers will be delighted to use on-chip features to improve product safety and provide additional ways to save battery power."

Designed for the advanced Internet of Things

The nPM1300 is designed to provide efficient power regulation for Nordic's nRF52 and nRF53 series of advanced wireless multi-protocol system-on-a-chip (SoC). The PMIC features four regulated power rails and a large battery charger, making it ideal for compact advanced iot products such as the nRF5340 SoC host and multiple peripheral features such as sensors. Examples include advanced wearable devices and portable medical applications.

The nPM1300 PMIC can operate on an external power supply of 4.0 to 5.5V or on battery voltages as low as 2.4V. The two power rails are regulated by separate DC/DC step-down converters and can be configured between 1.0 and 3.3V with a maximum current of 200 mA. The other two power rails operate as load switches, switching up to 100 mA of current from an external source. It can also operate as a low voltage difference (LDO) voltage converter when powered directly from the nPM1300. When operating as an LDO, the power rail output can be configured between 1.0 and 3.3V, with a maximum output current of 50 mA. The unregulated input voltage can also be used as the output of the nPM1300.

The nPM1300 charges individual lithium-ion batteries, lithium polymer batteries, and lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries via a linear charging module that supports charging currents up to 800 mA and can be programmed for termination voltages between 3.5 and 4.45 V. The battery charger has automatic thermal adjustment function, which can be programmed to set the maximum chip temperature during charging to achieve simple thermal management, and can adapt to different system requirements.

USB port detection and more

The nPM1300 brings other new advanced features to Nordic's PMIC range, including: USB port detection, which automatically limits current to 100 mA or 500 mA via standard USB; Or automatically limit the current up to 1500mA through USB-C PD (Power Delivery); Dynamic power routing management, which automatically switches to battery power if the main power connection is removed; Voltage, current and temperature monitoring for accurate fuel measurement; And ultra-low current sleep mode with programmable wake timer; It also has the other system administration functions mentioned earlier. The PMIC also features three LED drivers and five GPIOs that can be reset to control line oriented time critical control functions in place of serial commands.