STMicroelectronics has introduced a high-voltage power converter that allows designers to build an ultra-low-
consumption, simple, and cost-effective SMPS (Switched-Mode Power Supply) with a 5V output voltage. Particularly suited for low-power applications in home appliances, building, lighting, and motion control, as well as small industrial and consumer applications, the VIPER01 operates directly from a rectified mains supply and integrates an 800V avalanche-rugged Power MOSFET with PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) current-mode control and multiple protection circuits. The converter is tailored to provide the auxiliary supply to microcontrollers in IoT devices that are permanently connected to the Internet or a local network.
The new device belongs to the VIPerPlusTM family of high-voltage converters, now in its second generation, and exploits ST’s proprietary BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) technology. BCD allows the integration in a single chip of a high-performance PWM controller with a high-voltage logic-level control transistor, protection and diagnostic circuitry, without significantly impacting the robustness and reliability of the power transistor.
The VIPER01 enables designers to meet the most stringent energy-saving standards[1], as it has very low power consumption and switches automatically to pulse frequency modulation under light load conditions. It can be used in fly-back, buck, and buck-boost converter topologies, while the integrated high-voltage start-up, sense-FET, error amplifier, and oscillator with jitter allow a complete application to be designed with the minimum number of external components.
Key features of the VIPER01 include:
800 V avalanche-rugged Power MOSFET allowing ultra-wide VAC input range;
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Embedded HV start-up and sense-FET;
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Current mode PWM controller;
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Drain current limit protection;
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Wide supply-voltage range from 4.5V to 30V;
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Self-supply option allows auxiliary winding or bias components to be removed;
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Jittered switching frequency reduces the EMI filter cost;
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Embedded error amplifier with 1.2V reference voltage;
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Protections with automatic restart include overload/short-circuit, line or output OVP, maximum duty cycle counter, VCC clamp;
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Embedded thermal shutdown;
Built-in soft-start for improved system reliability.
The VIPER01 comes with a set of tools including evaluation kits, application notes, and spice models to jumpstart more robust, safer, and cost-effective SMPS designs.
