Nordic's Tiny nPM1100 PMIC Is a Massive First Entry Into the Power Management Market

Nordic Semiconductor has entered the power management integrated circuit (PMIC) market. The nPM1100 is a greater than 90% efficient buck converter that can source power from either a battery or USB. A PCB solution, with passives, only takes up 23mm-squared of space!

As a DC/DC voltage regulator, the nPM1100 provides up to 150 mA with a selectable output voltage of 1.8, 2.0, 2.7, or 3.0. For higher power devices, it can output 500 milliamps with unregulated voltages from 3.0 to 5.0.

Like other PMICs, the nPM1100 is more than just a regulator. It is also a JEITA-compliant battery charger. The nPM1100 can supply up to 400 milliamps when charging lithium-ion or lithium-polymer battery cells.

JEITA is the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association. It is an industry group that, among other things, provides guidelines for improving battery-charging safety. Their recommendations helped drive safety features like thermal protections and recommendations for charging curves under specific environmental conditions, like temperature.

The input voltage range is from 2.3 to 6.6 volts. This range covers battery and USB as inputs. The PMIC is compatible with USB standards like standard downstream port (SDP), charging downstream port (CDP), and dedicated charger port (DCP).

Even though an obvious target is users of Nordic's nRF52 and nRF53 SoCs, the nPM1100 is usable with anyone's silicon. For example, there is no software configuration. All features are configurable using the hardware pins.

The typical quiescent current for the nPM1100 is 700 nA. There is a "ship mode" which completely disables the power output. The PMIC draws about 470 nA in this mode, which can significantly increase a product's initial battery life while shipment to end customers.

Nordic packed these capabilities into a wafer-level chip-scape package (WLCSP) that measures 2.075 by 2.075 millimeters. When combined with passives, the total PCB area is 23 millimeters-squared. Alternatively, Nordic says a performance-focused solution could increase slightly to 27 millimeters-squared.

nPM1100 samples and production-level volumes are available now. At the time of writing, prices run from 2.50 USD for a single chip down to 1.73 USD in high quantity. Nordic also offers the nPM1100-EK evaluation kit. It breaks out all of the PMIC's pins with switches for individual features. It is available for approximately 37 USD.

For more information about Nordic's first entry into the power management market, check out their nPM1100 blog post introducing the PMIC.