­Advanced Analog and Mixed-Signal Platform

Platforms have had mixed success in electronics. Usually their main benefit is time saving, as all the constituent parts are included in a single chip or board, allowing designer to focus on adding their own secret sauce. This works well in products such as single board computers, where any flexibility required can be included through software. It is more difficult to achieve in analog designs. A second drawback is that as each component is on a single die, the design is not as efficient as it could be, and with power designs, efficiency is key. Onsemi claims it has overcome these problems using advanced semiconductor techniques in its new platform. The Treo platform was launched at this year’s electronica exhibition in Munich, where CEO Hassane El-Khoury and Sudhir Gopalswamy, Group President, Intelligent Sensing and Analog and Mixed-Signal Group took time out to discuss the new platform.

El-Khoury explained the changing industry demands behind the development of the platform, “In some applications, increasing power demands in parallel with stricter environmental regulations are driving a need for greater energy efficiency at the same time as greater performance and functionality are required in end applications. At the other end of the power spectrum, low power devices are becoming more sophisticated, requiring more intelligence and better efficiency to improve performance and reduce device costs. This creates the need for highly integrated, advanced power and sensing solutions capable of delivering greater intelligence while simultaneously delivering greater energy efficiency across the entire power spectrum. The Treo platform comprises process technology and IP that come together to realize a wide range of voltages, robustness, efficient power management, and intelligent sensing and communications”.

The Treo platform contains four subsystems; power management, sensing, computing and communications. Together, these constituent parts provide designers with a complete solution that delivers local intelligence, flexible configuration, and significantly improved performance and accuracy in end applications. The Treo Platform has a modular, SoC-like architecture with a robust set of IP building blocks that will be expanded in the future. Products will be built on a single die using Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD) process technology on a 65nm node at onsemi’s 300mm fab in East Fishkill, NY. They will support voltages from 1- 90V and operating temperatures up to 175°C.

As for the previous drawbacks in using platforms, Gopalswamy explains, “There will always be a little bit of a trade off with modularity. Generally speaking, as you get to the 65nm node and use BCD technology, the gap between bespoke and modular is really small, and the value of being able to deliver higher performance and lower power really overwhelms that. We see the same thing in our own devices. We have this idea of what would be a standard product for us versus what would be a custom, specific one, and when you look at the difference between those, it's almost immeasurable.”

Initial product families built on the Treo Platform are sampling today, including voltage translators, ultra-low-power AFEs, LDOs, ultrasonic sensors, multi-phase controllers, and single-pair Ethernet controllers. In the future, onsemi will deliver an even broader array of product families adding even more system-level value, including: high performance sensors, DC-DC converters, automotive LED drivers, electrical safety ICs, connectivity, and more.

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