Fairchild's single-chip PWM solution provides best-in-class standby power

SAN JOSE, USA: As standby power requirements in devices such as notebooks, printers, LCD TVs and monitors continue to decrease, below 50mW in many applications, designers need a solution to address standby power consumption in their current designs. To meet these stringent regulations today, additional circuitry or control devices are needed to remove the power loss, resulting in a much higher BOM cost and a more complex circuit design.

To help designers meet this low standby power challenge with lower part counts, Fairchild Semiconductor, a leading global supplier of high-performance power and mobile products, developed the FAN6756 PWM controller featuring mWSaver technology, which enables the reduction of standby power loss in the external circuit without using additional support ICs.

The single-chip FAN6756 is a highly integrated green-mode PWM controller, capable of significantly reducing standby losses in SMPS designs, eliminating up to 15 external components. When compared to competitive IC solutions available today, the device achieves greater power savings and can save the designer up to $.30 in bill of material (BOM) costs.

Ideal for power supplies that demand extremely low standby power, including adapters for notebooks, printers and game consoles, as well as open-frame SMPS for LCD TVs, LCD monitors and printer power, the FAN6756 incorporates mWSaver technology, including a proprietary Deep Burst Mode technology that reduces switching loss at no-load and light-load conditions. mWSaver technology allows the device to reduce power losses not only in the controller itself, but also in the external circuits and components.

The FAN6756 also includes an innovative AX-CAP discharge method that minimizes losses in the EMI filter stage by eliminating the X-cap discharge resistors and discharging X-cap energy through the HV pin when the power is unplugged from the AC outlet while still meeting the IEC61010-1 safety requirement. The device also incorporates robust protection features – including Fairchild’s proprietary Sense Resistor Short-Circuit Protection (SSCP), which shuts down the PWM output to prevent system damage when the sense resistor is shorted - providing for a safe and reliable solution.

The FAN6756, available in an 8-pin SOP package, is part of a comprehensive portfolio of power products designed to improve no-load power consumption as well as to meet stringent energy efficiency standards, reduce component count and simplify design in today’s electronics. Fairchild Semiconductor’s mWSaver technology offers best-in-class minimum no-load and light-load power consumption to meet current and proposed worldwide standards and regulations and enables designers to achieve reduced form factors, improved reliability and lower system costs.