Renesas Introduces Two Dual-Output Synchronous Controllers with Low Quiescent Current for Automotive Always-On Systems

TOKYO, Japan ― Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced a pair of new 42V dual synchronous controllers with the lowest 6µA quiescent current and integrated 2A source/3A sink MOSFET drivers that provide primary power stage solutions for the Renesas R-Car H3 and R-Car M3 SoCs. The ISL78264 dual sync buck controller manages the intermediate first stage DC/DC conversion, stepping down the 12V battery system to 5V and 3.3V to power the vehicle’s electronic control unit (ECU), in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and digital cockpit systems with 50W-200W power levels. The ISL78263 dual sync boost and buck controller provides DC/DC conversion to support power levels of 25W-100W, while providing a pre-boost if the battery voltage (VBAT) dips to as low as 2.1V during a cranking transient or a start/stop event.

“The ISL78264 and ISL78263 provide the ideal primary stage power regulation solutions for Renesas’ R-Car H3 and R-Car M3 SoCs, which are introducing the automotive industry to new electronic architectures that improve vehicle performance, efficiency, safety, and reliability,” said Niall Lyne, Vice President, Automotive Analog Power & Video Business Division at Renesas. “The controllers’ always-on operation and industry’s lowest quiescent current gives power system designers the extra margin they need to stay within their 100µA power budget, and can even manage tight budgets down to 50µA. The ISL78264 and ISL78263 integrate strong MOSFET drivers that deliver higher efficiency and power compared to other automotive buck or boost VBAT controller solutions.”

The ISL78264 dual sync buck controller and the ISL78263 dual sync boost and buck controller offer energy conserving low quiescent current (Iq) of 6µA (typ) over a single buck channel. Both controllers simplify power supply design by integrating FET drivers that can deliver industry leading 96 percent peak efficiency and >10A output current. They also integrate feedback resistors and an external supply blocking diode for applications requiring cranking support, and programmable spread spectrum for addressing EMI interference challenges. For example, tolerating a VBAT load dump reduces the additional cost and size of surge protection, while supporting cranking transients lowers the amount of required input capacitance. Having built-in EMI mitigation, with a switching frequency up to 2.2 MHz, also reduces the cost and size of EMI filtering/shielding.

The ISL78264 and ISL78263 also include extensive protection for overvoltage (OV), undervoltage (UV), overcurrent, overtemperature, and a bootstrap supply undervoltage detection and refresh circuit to protect the high side MOSFET. Both controllers are AEC-Q100 Grade-1 qualified for ambient operation of -40°C to +125°C.