National Semiconductor has expanded its Webench power supply tool to automate the design of multi-output intermediate bus architectures.
Users can now simply type in the available input voltage and required output voltages with their associated output currents, and almost immediately be offered a choice of complete designs optimised for either efficiency, space or cost.
"Webench Power Architect is the first tool to make it easy to quickly design power supplies for all of the loads in a system," claimed Phil Gibson, v-p of technical sales tools at National. "A typical system with eight power loads will have a BOM [parts list] ranging from 50 to 150 components. This is the only tool that lets you instantly compare performance and cost for many alternative system combinations."
The tool's library has 21,000 components from 110 manufacturers.
BOM costs are exact, with participating passives suppliers up-loading 1,000 off prices to the engine behind the tool hourly, said Gibson.
When the design is complete, the tool generates a system summary report including schematics, BOMs and electrical operating values.
An option provides complete prototype kits with overnight shipping.
Currently the efficiency/cost/size trade-off is controlled by an on-screen virtual rotary control.
According to Gibson, there are 11 parameters adjusted behind the scenes by this control, and these are going to be made available in future when an 'expert' mode is introduced.
Power Architect follows only two months behind Viualizer, Nationals previous increment to Webench which automatically draws up multiple solutions to any one set of power supply parameters, then compares them graphically for cost, area and efficiency to ease selection.
Power Architect at a glance:
- Vin from 1 to 100V
- Up to 20 system loads from 0.6-300V
- Up to 300W per load
Watch a video demonstration of the National WEBENCH
