Intersil introduces PowerNavigator version 5.2, a free, downloadable graphical user interface (GUI) that helps system designers quickly configure, verify, and monitor their power architecture.
New features included in PowerNavigator 5.2 enable highly optimized power optimization. Combined with a drag-and-drop GUI interface, PowerNavigator 5.2 makes it easy to change the features and functions of a digital power supply design without writing any code.
The PowerNavigator 5.2 software GUI allows configuration and monitoring of Intersil's PMBus-enabled digital power portfolio, including digital voltage regulators, controllers, multiphase devices, power modules, and digital power monitors. The company says that using a PC, USB interface and a few mouse clicks, designers can configure and change any parameter, telemetry or rail ordering for their digital power supply.
PowerNavigator version 5.2 includes three new innovations:
1-PowerMap adds more real-time information to power rail modules such as device name, phase number, output voltage, output current, PMBus address and current sharing capabilities. This additional information helps users visualize their systems faster. PowerMap has a realistic system-level view with zoom-in / zoom-out and scrolling capabilities to replicate a system with multiple power rails to provide point-of-load current to an ASIC, processor, DSP or FPGA. 2-Rail Inspector quickly guides the user through the setting of power parameters. Rail Inspector displays the name of the rail, and displays the number of devices, device address and status, and important power parameters: input voltage, switching frequency, output voltage, and load current. Device options include clock synchronization, sequencing, and current sharing. Users can then load and save configuration files in text and hex format. 3-RailScope simplifies system verification and enables users to draw all equipment telemetry maps of up to four rails at a time, such as input voltage, output voltage, output current and temperature. RailScope's system logging feature automatically records telemetry and fault data for later analysis.
