New Automotive Primary DC/DC Converters

Ensuring stable operation and lower application power consumption

Willich-Münchheide, Germany, November 09, 2020 – ROHM has developed a new lineup of twelve automotive primary DC/DC converters. The BD9P series is optimized for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) sensors, cameras, and radars, along with car infotainment and instrument clusters.

In recent years, the electrification of vehicle systems has increased. Combined with the limited amount of power available, this trend emphasizes the need for lower power consumption. At the same time, the output voltage from the batteries and generators can vary widely, demanding a versatile power supply solution.

With conventional power supply ICs, it is difficult to achieve both fast load responses to ensure stable operation and high efficiency in power conversion, contributing to greater energy savings. The new product adopting original advanced power supply technology, Nano Pulse ControlTM*, enables high speed operation at 2.2MHz that will not interfere with the AM radio band (1.84MHz max.) while achieving high step-down ratio. It is an optimum technology for automotive applications.

The BD9P series ensures stable operation during battery input voltage fluctuation, reducing output overshoot to less than 1/10th compared to conventional products. This eliminates the need for additional output capacitors typically required to reduce overshoot voltages. In addition, adopting a new control method makes it possible to achieve both, high efficiency and fast load response (which are in a trade-off relationship). The DC/DC converters offer a 92% power conversion efficiency at heavy loads (at 1A output current), but also 85% efficiency at light loads (1mA), and thus achieve class-leading efficiency across the entire load range. This reduces power consumption, which leads to a reduction in CO2 emissions, and the parasitic discharge of the battery is also reduced.

Furthermore, combining the new product with the BD9S series of secondary DC/DC converters cascaded to the subsequent stage allows users to configure faster, more efficient automotive power supply circuits. Reference designs are also available on ROHM official website. Utilizing reference boards, tools, and ROHM’s free web simulation tool “ROHM Solution Simulator” it is possible to perform simulations close to actual conditions, significantly reducing application design resources.

ROHM is committed to support the evolution of vehicles by developing products that contribute to lower power consumption and higher system reliability.

*”Nano Pulse Control™ ” is a trademark or a registered trademark of ROHM Co., Ltd.

BD9P Series Product Lineup
This new series is offered in 3.3V/5.0V/variable output voltages to support a wide range of circuits.

Application Examples
– ADAS ECU, sensors, cameras, and radars
– Car infotainment, instrument clusters, BCM (Body Control Modules), etc.
Automotive applications requiring high efficiency, superior reliability, and smaller form-factors

Availability: In mass production