Industry’s First Two-Channel Device with Native 16-bit Resolution Improves Power Measurement Accuracy

Managing and reducing power consumption is crucial in low-voltage, high-power applications such as Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and embedded computing devices. These devices must first accurately measure power before they can manage it, but precision power measurement solutions are often costly and require multiple ICs or power configurations to measure different rails.

Two new options are now available for improving power measurement accuracy in a range of low-voltage, high-performance embedded computing, industrial and portable power applications. The PAC1932 and PAC1933 are easy-to-adopt DC power monitoring devices that can measure from 0V to 32V. The two-channel PAC1932 and three-channel PAC1933 integrate their multiple channels in a single package for applications such as Point of Sale (POS) systems, ATMs and building automation. This reduces design costs while also consolidating the Bill of Materials (BOM), as the measurement of sub 1V to 20V voltage rails normally require separate components to measure each rail efficiently. Since the PAC1932 and PAC1933 can measure voltage rails under 1V to as high as 32V, you do not need to reconfigure measurement resolution between low- and high-current load events. The devices also include two 16-bit Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) that can measure voltage and current simultaneously, so you can extract a true power measurement and design your system to efficiently save power.

The PAC1932 is also the industry’s first two-channel power monitor with native 16-bit resolution, providing leading flexibility across a wide measurement range. It can measure without host intervention for 17 minutes, so you do not need to adjust the voltage or current range to measure power and energy.

Development Tools

The PAC1932 and PAC1933 work in conjunction with Linux and Windows 10 software drivers. As members of the same family of devices as the PAC1934, the PAC1932 and PAC1933 are register compatible with the PAC1934 4-Channel DC Power Monitor Evaluation Board (ADM00805), which can be used to start development with a graphical user interface reporting Vsense, Vbus, power and accumulated power.

If you are seeking a precise DC power measurement solution to reduce power consumption in your application, you can purchase devices in the PAC193x family from microchipDIRECT.