Allegro MicroSystems announced a new buck regulator IC to add to its industry leading lineup of automotive regulators. Allegro’s A8590 has been designed to provide the power supply requirements of next generation car audio and infotainment systems. The A8590 provides all the control and protection circuitry to produce a 3.0 A regulator to withstand the rigors of wide automotive battery input voltages. In addition to automotive infotainment applications, the A8590 can also be used in cluster and center stack applications as well as in advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS).
The A8590 employs pulse frequency modulation (PFM) to draw less than 50 μA from 12 VIN while supplying 3.3 V/40 μA. After startup, the A8590 operates down to at least 3.6 VIN (VIN falling) and maintains ±1.0% output voltage accuracy. Features of the A8590 include PWM/mode control and the ability to synchronize PWM frequency to an external clock. It also has a pin for an ultra-low current shutdown mode.
The A8590 has external compensation to accommodate a wide range of frequencies and external components and provides a power-on reset (NPOR) signal validated by the output voltage. Extensive protection features of the A8590 include pulse-by-pulse current limit, hiccup mode short circuit protection, open/short asynchronous diode protection, BOOT open/short voltage protection, VIN undervoltage lockout, VOUT overvoltage protection, and thermal shutdown.
