Circuit designers are faced with the challenge of developing systems with increasing functionality and complexity while under demanding power and time-to-market constraints. Such systems often require voltage level translation devices to allow interfacing between integrated circuit devices built from different process technologies. The choice of the proper voltage level translation device depends on many factors and will affect the performance and efficiency of the circuit application. Texas Instruments offers a variety of solutions to meet customer requirements.

Analog switches are extensively used for switching audio signals in battery-powered applications, such as mobile phones. In many cases, the switch is powered directly from the battery, but it receives control signals from a lower voltage processor GPIO. For most analog switches, this application condition leads to an excess supply current draw that catches system designers by surprise. This application report explains the cause of this excess current consumption and describes solutions to address it effectively.

The choice of hardware-interconnection mechanisms among processor blocks in an SOC affects communication performance and silicon cost. The default on-chip communications choice for ASICs and SOCs is the global bus or a bus hierarchy, however this choice automatically incurs many performance and design problems. Other choices may be more appropriate.

Optimizing an ASIC or SOC design for energy at an application and system level has the potential to cut processor and local-memory energy requirements by as much as half in many cases through intelligent design trade-offs. The amount of power savings made at the early architectural level far outweighs any potential power savings that might be made later at the RTL or physical design levels.

Many programmable logic vendors have focused on marketing low-power devices. In order to examine leadership claims, Actel has compared power, both static and dynamic at low and high density, with both tools and silicon against the two major programmable logic vendors. There can be only one true leader.

The electronics industry continues to become more power-conscious and designs become more complex. Actel's four low-power FPGA families are optimized for logic, I/O, and performance, and offer the most secure, firm-error immune, live-at-power-up, reprogrammable devices, with low-cost, ultra-low-power 5 uW devices and low-power solutions.

Much like the rationale behind Baskin-Robbins' "31 Flavors", this white paper explores the varieties of low-power FPGAs available to designers. Each flavor offers a different combination of ingredients -- power, speed, logic and I/O. With choice at their fingertips, designers can select their favorite flavor when designing their power- and cost-sensitive application.

Comprehensive power management, circuit protection and media solutions for a wide range of portable applications.

This brochure provides comprehensive on-board power and thermal management solutions for a full range of computing platforms.

This intermediate level tutorial provides a review of the basic topologies of Switched Mode Power Supplies (SMPS), addresses voltage mode and current mode control and provides characteristics of topologies for higher power applications.