High-current buck regulators claim 97% efficiency

National Semiconductor Corp. rolls the LM21212-1 and LM21215 high-current, synchronous buck regulators. The new members of the company's PowerWise energy-efficient product family claims 97 percent efficiency.

The regulators are suited for FPGAs, ASICs and microprocessors used in low-voltage applications including wireless, networking and optical communications infrastructure.

Highlights of the devices are integrated high-side and low-side FETs; 12A and 15A output current for the LM21212-1 and LM21215, respectively; efficiency greater than 97 percent from a 5V input to 3.3V output; input voltage range of 2.95V to 5.5V; output voltage down to 0.6V; programmable overcurrent protection feature; and an internal over voltage protection circuit.

The high-current synchronous buck regulators come in 4.4 x 6.5 x 0.9mm package. Priced at $3.85 and $4.15 for the LM21212-1 and LM21215 respectively, in quantities of 1,000, they are available now in 20-pin thermally-enhanced TSSOP packages. A version of the LM21212-1 with adjustable switching frequency will be available in March 2011.