Ricoh launches 6 A Load Switch with Voltage Detector

Osaka, Japan, 01 March 2019 – Ricoh Electronic Devices Co., Ltd. in Japan has launched the R5542, a versatile load switch embedded in an ultra-small wafer level chip scaled package and is able to switch currents up to 6 A. Target applications are mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Load switches are integrated electronic switches used to turn on and turn off power rails. Such kind of solution is smaller and more cost efficient compared to traditional relays. In addition, load switches have various additional features, which are not available in traditional solutions.

The R5542 is positioned in between the battery or other supply voltage and the actual application circuit (load). The internal on-resistance is only 9 mΩ and will cause almost no voltage drop between input and output, in this way the power dissipation of the chip is kept to a minimum. The actual switching element of the R5542 consists of an N-Channel MOSFET and is controlled by the LCE input to switch the power rails. Other advantages of a load switch are the possibility to set up a specific power-on sequence of various power supplies but also the total BOM count and total required board-space is significantly reduced compared to using discrete components in an equivalent circuit. As for the current consumption, the load switch consumes Typ. 10 µA in On-mode and 1 µA in Off-mode.

The ball pin configuration of the WLCSP package is convenient according to electronics designers; all pin functions are accessible from the outer pins, which makes it easier to design the circuit board layout.

The R5542 has an additional voltage detector on board which makes it possible to control the load switch when exceeding a specific voltage threshold. All voltage detector terminals are isolated from the load switch, meaning that it can be configured and powered independently (by the VDI input). A delay can be created on the output by adding a resistor and capacitor on the VDO output. Users can select the threshold in a range from 2.0 to 5.5 V in a 0.1 V step, this setting is internally fixed and does not require any external components. A practical example is that the voltage detector measures the load switch input voltage and disconnects it when this voltage drops below a certain level. Other purposes to use load switches are power distribution, power up and down sequencing, adding safety measures to the application etc.

The load switch has a number of safety circuits, like a reverse current protection to prevent a reverse current flow from the output to the input. This feature is only available when the LCE pin disables the load switch. Another Under Voltage Lock Out or UVLO function is present which disables the chip when the input voltage is below certain threshold voltage. In addition, the R5542 has an inrush current limit circuit to switch the load switch smoothly and to avoid any voltage overshoot on the output.

R5542 Features:

Load Switch Section

Input Voltage Range: 2.3 V to 5.5 V

Quiescent Current: Typ. 10 µA

Shutdown Current: Max. 1 µA

Output Current: DC Max. 6 A

Output Pulsed Current: Max. 12 A (Pulsed at 1 ms, 10% Duty Cyce)

Switch ON Resistance: 9 mΩ (Vin = 3.0 V, Iout = 300 mA)

Protection: Reverse Current Blocking (RCB) during shutdown mode, Soft-start Function, Under Voltage Lock Out (UVLO)

Voltage Detector Section

Supply Current: Typ. 1.0 μA (Vvdi = 2.0 V)

Operating Voltage Range: 1.2 V to 5.5 V (Ta = 25°C)

Detector Threshold Range: 2.0 V to 5.0 V (0.1 V steps)

Detector Threshold Accuracy: ±2.0%

Detector Threshold Temperature Coefficient: Typ. ±100 ppm/°C

Output Type: CMOS

Package R5542Z: (L1.68 x W1.28 x H0.65 mm) WLCSP-12-P3

Learn More: https://www.e-devices.ricoh.co.jp/en/products/power/sw/r5542/