Innovations on making product features customizable are becoming more popular these days. Take AnDAPT for example, a fabless startup that unveiled its Multi-Rail Power Platform technology for On-Demand PMIC applications a few months back (see “Will PMIC On-Demand Replace Catalog Power Devices?“). Its online platform, called WebAmp, enables the consumer to configure the power-management integrated circuit (PMIC) based on desired specifications.
Fortunately, I got a hands-on experience during the trial period (without the physical AmP8DB1 board or AmPLink adapter). In my opinion, the GUI is friendly, but it lacks a verification method for tuning (i.e., the entered combination of specs). How would we know if it will perform as expected or if there are contradicting indications that yield odd behavior? Also, there’s not just one IP available, but many that cater to a differing number of channels and voltage requirements (each with their own price tag).
Every new emerging technology has the potential to overshadow its predecessor. In the case of AnDAPT’s AmP, it can replace conventional catalog power devices. You may wonder what the advantages and disadvantages are between catalog and on-demand PMICs. Are on-demand PMICs a better choice in terms of economy? How about performance? This will be the focus of the article, which aims to provide a more in-depth appraisal and comparison between the two. However, before sound personal judgment can be passed, it’s necessary to elaborate first on the PMIC development process, and then the AmP technology.
The IC Development Process
Many may have a bird’s eye view of this process. A slab of pure silicon sliced to ultra-thin wafers, then diced for fitting into small IC packages after patterns and structures have been etched. Sounds simple, but when the entire process is laid out, certain pivotal and unelidable procedures will surface. It will be evident that these factors could limit an on-demand solution unless workarounds are implemented.