Silicon Labs has introduced a line of multi-rail power chips (PMICs) for its EFR32 and EFM32 wireless MCU families.

The family covers input voltages from from 0.8V to 5.5V, although no single device covers the whole range.

Caveat – SiLabs has slightly different figures in different places.

These allow power to be sourced from one or two alkaline cell, a Li-ion cell or USB.

In all cases, features include:

• three output rails
• coulomb counting
• 150nA quiescent all disabled
• 300nA with a single output enabled
• +125 nA for each additional output enabled
• -40 to 85°C operation (-40 to 100°C junction)
• I2C interface
• two digital I-Os
• QFN20 3 x 3mm package

“EFP01 family provides a turn-key power management companion for our wireless SoC and MCU families, combined with Simplicity Studio tools, reference designs, sample applications and PMIC-aware wireless stacks,” said SiLabs marketing v-p Matt Saunders. “EFP01 is optimised for our IoT connectivity platforms. If you want the easiest to configure, lowest power wireless solution, EFP01 with Wireless Gecko is the best choice.”

Output A can be configured in buck/boost, buck-only, or boost-only; then the dc-dc A output be combined with the output C linear regulator for more efficient regulation as the input voltage approaches the output voltage.

A firmware-programmable switched output (VOA_SW) allows complete power-down of high leakage external circuitry in low power modes.

Output B produces 0.8 to 3.3V (EFP0109, 0111) or 0.8 to 1.255 V (EFP0104, 0108). the switching converter is buck-only, and a dedicated linear regulator in parallel provides more efficient regulation as the input voltage approaches the output voltage.

Output C is a liear regulator producing 1.7 to 3.3V, either to be used on its own, or in parallel with output A to increase its efficiency near drop-out.

The Coulomb counter measured charge into the load. It is ‘lossless’ (no sense resistor).

“The PMICs enable buck and boost voltage conversion as well as combined boost and buck (“boost bootstrap”) supporting low-voltage, high-current rails for IoT products requiring coin cell batteries and higher transmit,” according to the company, which foresees application in IoT sensors, asset tags, smart meters, home automation, building automation, security, health and wellness products.

The unusually-named ‘coarse regulators’ have very low quiescent current draw, but poor output regulation (~1.7 to 3.4V) and can only support ~100μA loads. They are for use in a particular low-power mode with much of the rest of the chip disabled, including the dc-dc converters.

Three development boards are available, including the SLWRB4179B radio board, and two PMIC evaluation boards.

Simplicity Studio is a tool that offers energy profiler and network analyser tools, wireless stacks and reference designs.

The product page is here, take a look to unscramble the broad variety of modes available