10/29/2018
Techanalye Co.,Ltd.
This time, I introduce the new function, “the Supply Voltage Divided Output” which is prepared both in the Ultrahigh Efficiency Switching Regulator “S-85S1P Series” and the CMOS Voltage Regulator “S-1740/1741 Series”.
Regulators are indispensable for supplying stable voltages and it is also important to monitor remaining battery life for battery-powered products such as mobile, wearable and IoT devices. Existing ABLIC and other companies' regulators did not have this function and battery voltage divider had to be processed using external circuit to monitor the battery life (see left of the Figure 1).
Fig.1 The new function “Supply Voltage Divided Output” in the S-85S1P
“Supply Voltage Divided Output Regulator” is the regulator which a supply voltage divided output feature is added to. As in the right of the Figure 1, “the Supply Voltage Divided Output” circuit is included in the regulator and it divides the input voltage (Vin), outputs the voltage through the buffer, and inputs the voltage into a A/D converter pin of a microcontroller to make it possible to monitor the voltage. It resolves the problems in the external circuit such as the variation of the resistances, the input impedance mismatch with the A/D converter and so on. It increases the accurate understanding of the remaining battery life, reduces the mounting area and improves the power performance because of integrating the external circuit into the regulator (See Figure 2). This function which brings “throwing one stone to get three birds” into reality was accomplished not only by the ABLIC's effort but also by a startup company's request.
- High accuracy : No variation of the resistances, No input impedance mismatch with a
A/D converter on a microcontroller - Miniaturization : Remove external circuit and reduce the mounting area
- Power performance improvement : Self-current consumption of the “supply voltage divided output” is reduced to 280 nA (typical).
The company is Braveridge Co., Ltd which is based at Kyushu, develops and produces IoT devices as well as develops and manufactures low power wireless modules such as BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), LoRaWAN and SIGFOX (see footnote). To develop IoT devices which meet these standard specifications, the monitoring remaining battery life function which enables low power consumption and long-term battery life is essential. It is preferable to be designed as small as possible to improve the use-friendliness of the –portable devices. To realize these requests, ABLIC developed the “Supply Voltage Divided Output Regulator”. Figure 3 shows the Braveridge's Human Tracker which S-85S1P is mounted in.
Generally, venture companies don't have ample money and they have small human resources. Therefore, they have some superior technologies, but it is difficult to say they have a wide variety of skills. However, they have a passion for technology and innovation. They have a great source of ideas.
ABLIC's activity doesn't only invest in a venture companies but also provides technical support and cultivates their business. ABLIC invests into Japanese new business fields through supporting the startup companies.
ABLIC does not support them unilaterally. ABLIC incorporates their fresh ideas, converts the vector from “Product-Out”, which is a concept that a company assumes a use case and a specification inside a company and develops the products, to “Market-In”, which is a concept that a company focuses on the customer's requirements, and develops a new products which are improved usability, development efficiency and cost efficiency. It would not be obtained by conventional methods.
“Supply Voltage Divided Output Regulator” is the product developed utilizing the advantages of the startup company and the historic old company, that is, Japanese old and new organization.
In the upcoming article, I will show you a future development plan of this regulator.
Note : LoRaWAN、SIGFOX…One of the standard specification to provide LPWA（Low Power Wide Area, Wireless communication technologies for battery-efficient and ubiquitous wide-area connectivity). Both use unlicensed band frequencies.