STEVAL-PSQ001V1
Power management for CPU, FPGA and memories based on PM6680A

The main purpose of this evaluation board is to show the basic principles used in the design of power supplies, and to give users a working prototype for testing and daily use.
The trend in recent years in the supply of MCUs, CPUs, memories and FPGAs, for example, is to reduce the supply voltage, increase supply current and provide various voltage levels for different devices in one platform. A typical example of this is the FPGA. FPGAs contain core parts which operate with low level voltage, interface parts placed between the core and the output, system parts, and so on. Each family of parts has a slightly different voltage level and the trend is toward decreasing voltage for each new family. The lowest operating voltage currently is 1 V, and this can be expected to drop to 0.9 V or 0.8 V in the near future. The situation is similar with other parts of digital solutions. Typically, the main CPU, memory, and interfaces require different supply voltage levels.
Low operating voltage also brings another challenge - transients. Digital devices are typically sensitive to voltage level. If voltage drops below or crosses over established limits, the device is reset. This limit is typically ± 3 or 5 %. On the other hand, digital device consumption can change very rapidly (several amps in several hundred nanoseconds). The power supply must be capable of reacting very quickly with a minimum of over/undervoltage, especially in cases where very low voltage output is required. Additional stress is placed on power supplies in digital applications for industrial use. The industrial standard bus is 24 V, but this voltage fluctuates, and the maximum required input voltage level can be up to 36 V. Additional surge protection is also mandatory for power supply inputs in industrial applications.
The purpose of this evaluation board is to address all the required parameters outlined above. This means satisfying industrial input requirements (operating voltage of up to 36 V) and generating several output voltages for middle power applications (up to several amps). The main output voltage level can be set easily.