National Semiconductor Introduces Industry's First Full-Bridge PWM Controllers with Integrated MOSFET Gate Drivers

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- APPLIED POWER ELECTRONICS CONFERENCE -- National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE: NSM) today introduced the industry's first full-bridge pulse width modulation (PWM) controllers to integrate all four primary-side bridge MOSFET gate drivers.  The LM5045 and LM5046 are well-suited for delivering higher efficiency and higher power density in quarter-brick and eighth-brick power modules used in a variety of high input voltage communications infrastructure applications.  

National is showcasing the LM5045 and LM5046 in booth #202 at the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Expo (APEC) in Fort Worth, Texas, March 6-10.  APEC is one of the industry's leading conferences for practicing power electronics professionals.

Members of National's PowerWise® energy-efficient product family, the LM5045 and LM5046 PWM controllers ease the design of full-bridge topology-based power converters into small form factor power supplies by reducing the number of external power components needed with existing full-bridge solutions.  Watch a phase-shifted full-bridge demonstration featuring the LM5046 at http://bit.ly/LM5045video.

Technical Features of National's New Full-bridge PWM Controllers

The LM5045 PWM controller contains all of the features necessary to implement a conventional full-bridge topology power converter using either current mode or voltage mode control.  For applications requiring zero-voltage switching (ZVS) to minimize electro-magnetic interference (EMI) due to switching noise, the LM5046 PWM controller contains all the features necessary to implement a phase-shifted full-bridge topology.

Offered in small, thermally enhanced 5.0 mm by 5.0 mm by 0.8 mm LLP and 4.4 mm by 9.7 mm by 0.9 mm TSSOP packages, the full-bridge controllers operate on the primary side of an isolated DC-DC converter with input voltage up to 100V.  These highly integrated controllers provide robust 2A high and low side gate drivers for the four external bridge MOSFETs in addition to the control signals for the secondary side synchronous rectifier MOSFETs and an internal high voltage start-up regulator.  Intelligent startup of the synchronous rectifiers (SR) allows monotonic turn-on of the power converter, even with pre-bias load conditions.  The synchronous rectifier control signals offer independent and programmable leading/trailing edge dead-times between the primary and secondary MOSFET control signals for optimizing efficiency, and the SR signals are limited to 5V for use with digital isolators.  Additional features include dual mode over-current protection featuring both cycle-by-cycle current limiting and hiccup mode restart, programmable soft-start, timing for both primary and synchronous rectifiers, programmable line UVLO and OVP, a synchronizable 2 MHz oscillator and thermal shutdown.

National's new LM5045 and LM5046, together with secondary side FET drivers such as the LM5110, LM5111 and LM5112, provide a complete controller solution to implement a highly efficient, small form factor full-bridge power converter.

For more information on the LM5045 or to order samples, PSPICE models and an evaluation board, visit http://www.national.com/pf/LM/LM5045.html.  For similar information on the LM5046 and to download an application note for a 150 Watt, eighth-brick design, visit http://www.national.com/pf/LM/LM5046.html. 

Pricing and Availability

National's new full-bridge PWM controllers are available now and offered in 28-pin LLP and thermally-enhanced TSSOP packages.  Priced in quantities of 1,000, the LM5045 is $2.25 and the LM5046 is $2.45.

More information about National's power management products is available at http://www.national.com/analog/power.

About National Semiconductor

National Semiconductor is a leader in power management technology. Known for its easy-to-use analog integrated circuits and world-class supply chain, National's high-performance analog products enable its customers' systems to be more energy efficient. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., National reported sales of $1.42 billion for fiscal 2010. Additional information is available at www.national.com.

National Semiconductor and PowerWise are registered trademarks of National Semiconductor Corporation.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE National Semiconductor Corp.