Mike Stroka, Product Marketing Engineer at Power Integrations, stated, "Automotive designers appreciate the high efficiency and low component count offered by the high-voltage power supplies built with InnoSwitch3-AQ ICs. The new package’s increased creepage and clearance between primary-side drain and source pins support next-generation EV bus voltages. Our proprietary InSOP™-28G package allows for up to 1000VDC on the primary side while ensuring safe isolation in environments with pollution degree 2 for all other pins."
The 1700V-rated constant voltage/constant current InnoSwitch3-AQ switching IC integrates a silicon carbide (SiC) primary switch, delivering up to 80W of output power. This highly integrated IC reduces the number of power supply components by up to 50%, saving space, enhancing system reliability, and mitigating component sourcing challenges. The increased creepage distance of the drain pin improves resilience against high levels of shock and vibration, particularly in automotive applications involving electric drive axles.
The new addition to the InnoSwitch3-AQ series can start up with drain voltages as low as 30V, eliminating the need for external startup circuitry, which is critical for functional safety. Additional protection features include input undervoltage protection, output overvoltage protection, and overcurrent limiting. With synchronous rectification and multi-mode valley switching, as well as discontinuous/conductive conduction mode (DCM/CCM) flyback control, the IC achieves efficiency exceeding 90%. Its no-load power consumption is less than 15mW. Target automotive applications include battery management systems, µDC-DC converters, control circuits, and emergency power supplies within main traction inverters. The new IC also enhances remote on/off functionality.