Industry’s First Most Integrated USB-C Buck Charger Gets Smaller By 30 Percent

Portable Li-ion battery-powered electronics designers can now take a sigh of relief with the most flexible and simplified USB Type-C charging system. Adding these chargers to their systems now gets more simplified with Maxim’s MAX77860 3A switch-mode charger.

Fig. 1: Representational Image

One of the first in industry, it offers one of the first integrated USB-C port controller as well as charger that skips the need for a distinct host controller, simplifies software development and brings down the complete BOM (bill-of-materials) costs for various applications ranging from game players to portable speakers, medical devices, charging cradles, radios, scanners, industrial computers, power banks, as well as PoS (Point of Sale) terminals.

There exists a wide range of electronic systems that are now migrating towards USB-C interfaces that support swiftly developing battery charging and communication abilities. Cherry on the cake, these are smaller and more compact in size. All present day design frameworks need host microprocessors to identify current levels and configure the input current limit of charger. While cell phones, laptops, and PCs have adopted such chargers on an early stage, the rate of adoption with respect to USB-C chargers will expectedly grow at a rate of 8.5 percent per year.

The MAX77860 reduces overall size and eases up the process of hardware and software design by integrating USB-C CC (Configuration Channel) port detection as well as battery charger for 15W applications. Such integrated functions pave way for battery charging at the fastest possible rate within USB-C specifications.

Key Features

● Better integration: It completely eliminates need for a separate port controller and several other discrete components.

● Better efficiency. Its higher efficiency buck brings down heat dissipation with efficiency exceeding 93% and up till 3A charging ability.

● More design flexibility. Its backward compatibility paves way for designs to function with both legacy BC1.2 and USB-C adapters.

In Maker’s Words

● Perry Tsao, the executive director of Mobile Solutions Business Unit at Maxim Integrated, adds, “The MAX7786 dramatically reduces system complexity by integrating the charger, the power path, the low dropout regulator, the ADC and the USB-C CC detection in a small 3.9mm x 4.0mm package. This level of integration simplifies the design, enabling the delivery of more power and more functionality in minimal printed circuit board space.”