Micrel's CPU Thermal Supervisor/Tiny Op Amps

Tom and Frank have already shown what can happen to processors when they get hot. In fact, the article and video they produced to show the effects of heat had the side effect of making a lot of people a bit hot. Micrel Semiconductor thinks it may have a solution to processor heat problems in smaller devices with its new miniature two-zone thermal supervisor IC for thermal management. The IC uses embedded thermal diodes like those found in CPUs from Intel, AMD, Xilinx VIRTEX FPGAs, and other devices. The MIC280 is available in 6-pin SOT23 packaging and features remote temperature measurement, six independent thresholds, I2C/SMBus compatibility, and a programmable interrupt output. Fault queues, along with programmable digital filters, are intended to increase the device's performance in noisy environments. It also allows the locking of critical functions, reporting of diode faults, and provides independent over-temperature alarms. The MIC280's operating power supply current is 3 milliAmps, and the quiescent current in shutdown mode is 5 microAmps. Eight different factory-programmed slave address options are available. In thousand-piece quantities, the MIC280 in 6-pin SOT23 packaging is priced at $1.34 each. Samples are from stock and an evaluation board is available.

Micrel also let us know about its new Operational Amplifiers (Op Amps). Like any other type of processor, high speed and low power consumption are characteristics manufacturers strive for in such devices. The company's new MIC918 and MIC919 are said to achieve a slew-rate of 1500V/us while consuming just 550uA and 360uA, respectively. Both op amps are voltage-feedback, unity-gain stable devices and are housed in SC70-5 packaging. The MIC918 has a gain-bandwidth product of 51MHz and the MIC919 has a gain-bandwidth product of 27MHz. The MIC918 and MIC919 have 60 degrees of phase margin at unity gain and are specified for supply voltages of +/-5V and +/-9V. PSRR is 104dB for the MIC918 and 105dB for the MIC919, and CMRR is 91dB for the MIC918 and 87dB for the MIC919. AVOL is 93dB for the MIC918 and 92dB for the MIC919. Micrel figures the little gadgets are suited for applications at include portable instrumentation, medical equipment, and video/imaging. The MIC918 and MIC919 are priced at $1.40 in 1k quantities, with samples available now.