PMICs provide complete power management solution for microprocessors

February 20, 2025

The STPMIC1 and STPMIC25 from STMicroelectronics incorporate a mix of buck and boost converters and LDO regulators in a single chip, to provide a simple and small power circuit for advanced microprocessors.

Compared to the STPMIC1, the STPMIC25 offers higher output power capability, improved output-voltage ripple/noise, superior transient performance, higher conversion efficiency, and improved safety management. It also offers a higher number of output rails, with 16 compared to the 12 of the STPMIC1.  

 

Both devices can supply power to the processor as well as to external system peripherals such as DRAM and Flash memories, and other system devices.  

 

In the STPMIC25, seven buck switch-mode power supplies provide excellent transient response and output-voltage precision across a wide range of operating conditions. The PMIC offers very high efficiency across the load range thanks to the ability to select either a low-power mode (LPM) or high-power mode (HPM). All the buck converters can switch smoothly between LPM and HPM.  

 

The converters use an advanced PWM phase-shift synchronization technique with integrated PLL and programmable spread-spectrum frequency modulation to reduce EMI. 

 

The STPMIC1 is also highly efficient, reducing power dissipation and extending battery life in portable applications. The power rails include four adjustable adaptive constant on-time switching buck converters, and four LDO regulators. A 5.2 V/1.1 A boost dc-dc converter with bypass mode is suitable for a 5 V or battery input.  

 

The STPMIC1 is available in five different versions: four are factory pre-programmed to meet I/O voltage requirements at 3.3 V or 1.8 V, and one is not pre-programmed. All versions can be easily customized later during the design stage, giving flexibility to engineers. An embedded non-volatile memory can store power sequencing settings and status read-outs.

Features STPMIC25

  • Input-voltage range: 2.8 V to 5.5 V 
  • Seven buck converters with adaptive constant on-time topology 
  • Six adjustable general-purpose LDOs 
  • LDO for DDR3L/DDR4 termination  
  • LDO for USB PHY supply  
  • Reference voltage  
  • User programmable non-volatile memory  
  • Programmable output voltages

Applications

  • Industrial control systems 
  • Point-of-sale terminals 
  • M2M communications interfaces 
  • Home automation  
  • Networking equipment  
  • Medical monitoring devices
STMicroelectronics — STPMIC1 and STPMIC25 Power Management ICs

Evaluation Board

Part Number: STEVAL-PMIC25V1

The STEVAL-PMIC25V1 from STMicroelectronics is a power management IC (PMIC) evaluation board for the highly integrated STPMIC25. This PMIC manages the power requirements of the core, memory and interfaces of the STM32MP2x series microprocessors and other applications microprocessors. 

 

The kit includes a USB dongle, which provides access via I2C interface to the configuration registers of the STPMIC25, where voltage settings, power sequences, protection thresholds and other parameters can be set. 

 

The board includes header connectors for external access to the embedded regulators and switches in the PMIC, as well as internal routing via jumpers to satisfy any physical configuration requirements. 

 

The passive components on the board are chosen for optimal performance across most operating conditions. Three push buttons and digital I/Os allow the engineer to trigger the digital controls of the PMIC.

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