Fairchild's Switching Regulator for DDR

If you remember, at last week's Rambus Developer Forum, Rambus was saying that one of the reasons RDRAM could end up making systems cheaper overall has to do with the termination requirements of DDR and the associated costs. I definitely don't want to get the RDRAM/SDRAM debate started again (today, at least), but it's interesting to see a product that relates in some way to the hoopla and the overall cost of motherboards. DDR memory needs the termination voltage (VTT) to be controlled at 50 percent of the supply voltage (VDDQ) and Fairchild says its new FAN6555 switching regulator is designed specifically to handle these termination requirements for DDR memory arrays. The FAN6555 includes high-efficiency MOSFETs capable of handling up to 2A (source and sink) of continuous load current, and 3A, peak current at the VTT termination voltage, regulated to +/-3 percent over changing load conditions. The device also includes several built-in functions, including a buffered VREF output for cascaded bus systems, shutdown control for standby mode and thermal shutdown protection against output overloads. The FAN6555 operates over a 0 to 70 degrees C temperature range at full load without an external heat sink and is available in a 16-pin SOIC package for $1.79 in 1,000-piece quantities.