The MinE-CAP device also drastically reduces the starting current, making NTC thermistors unnecessary, increasing system efficiency, and reducing heat dissipation.
According to Chris Lee, Director of Product Marketing at Power Integrations: “The MinE-CAP will be a game-changer for compact chargers and adapters. Electrolytic capacitors are physically large, occupying a significant fraction of the internal volume and often limiting form factor options—particularly the minimum thickness—of adapter designs. The MinE-CAP IC allows the designer to predominantly use low-voltage capacitors for a large portion of the energy storage, reducing the volume of those components linearly with voltage. USB PD has driven a significant market push toward small 65W chargers, and many companies have focused on increasing the switching frequency to reduce the size of the flyback transformer. The MinE-CAP provides greater volume savings than doubling the switching frequency, while actually increasing system efficiency.”
The MinE-CAP leverages the small size and low RDSn of PowiGaN™ gallium nitride transistors to actively and automatically switch on and off segments of the capacitor network in bulk, depending on AC line voltage conditions. Designers using the MinE-CAP select the smallest high-line capacitor required for high AC line voltages and allocate most of the energy storage to low-voltage capacitors that are protected by the MinE-CAP until needed on the low AC line. This approach dramatically reduces the size of the input capacitors without compromising output ripple, operating efficiency, or requiring transformer redesign.
Conventional power conversion solutions reduce power supply size by increasing the switching frequency to allow the use of a smaller transformer. The innovative MinE-CAP achieves an equally significant reduction in overall power supply size while using fewer components and avoiding the challenges of increased electromagnetic interference (EMI) and the increased transformer/terminal dissipation challenges associated with high-frequency designs. Applications include smart mobile chargers, household appliances, power tools, lighting, and automotive applications.
According to Bhaskar Thiagaragan, Director of Power Integrations India Ltd.: " MinE-CAP ICs are excellent for all locations with a wide range of input voltages. In India, we often design for voltages from 90 VAC to 350 VAC, with generous surge reduction above that. Engineers here often complain about the forest of expensive high-voltage capacitors required. MinE-CAP dramatically reduces the number of high-voltage storage components and protects low-voltage capacitors from wild grid fluctuations, substantially improving robustness and reducing system maintenance and product returns."
Housed in the miniature MinSOP-16A package, the new devices work seamlessly with Power Integrations’ InnoSwitch™ family of power supply ICs with minimal external components. The MinE-CAP MIN1072M ICs are available immediately from PI offices and franchised distributors and are priced at $1.75 per 10 Ku. Two initial Design Example Reports (DERs) pair the MinE-CAP IC with Power Integrations’ InnoSwitch3-Pro PowiGaN IC, INN3370C-H302. A 65W USB PD 3.0 power supply with 3.3V–21V PPS output for mobile phone/laptop chargers is described in DER-626, and DER-822 describes a 60W USB PD 3.0 power supply for USB PD/PPS power adapters using the INN3379C-H302.
