Power management integrated circuit


A power management integrated circuit is an integrated circuit for power management. Although it is a wide range of chip types, most include several DC/DC converters or their control part. A PMIC is often included in battery-operated devices and embedded devices to decrease the amount of space required.
File:PMIC chip from Hynix DDR5.jpg|right|thumb|PMIC from SK Hynix DDR5 memory module

Overview

The term PMIC refers to a class of integrated circuits that perform various functions related to power requirements.
A PMIC may have one or more of the following functions:
Power management ICs are solid-state devices that control the flow and direction of electrical power. Many electrical devices use multiple internal voltages and sources of external power, meaning that the power design of the device has multiple requirements for operation. A PMIC can refer to any chip that is an individual power related function, but generally refer to ICs that incorporate more than one function such as different power conversions and power controls such as voltage supervision and undervoltage protection. By incorporating these functions into one IC, a number of improvements to the overall design can be made such as better conversion efficiency, smaller solution size, and better heat dissipation.

Features

A PMIC may include battery management, voltage regulation, and charging functions. It may include a DC to DC converter to allow dynamic voltage scaling. Some models are known to feature up to 95% power conversion efficiency. Some models integrate with dynamic frequency scaling in a combination known as DVFS.
It may be manufactured using BiCMOS process. They may come as QFN package. Some models feature I²C or SPI serial bus communications interface for I/O.
Some models feature a low-dropout regulator, and a real-time clock co-operating with a backup battery.
A PMIC can use pulse-frequency modulation and pulse-width modulation. It can use switching amplifier.

IC manufacturers

Some of many manufacturers of PMICs: