Linear Technology: DC1613A USB-to-PMBus Controller Module

Kit Overview

Demonstration circuit DC1613ADC1613A is a USB-based controller with generic Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) ports as well as SMBUS/PMBUS capabilities. It is designed to mate with Linear Technology’s family of LTpowerPlay demonstration boards. The demo board is fully isolated from the host PC’s ground. The evaluation software automatically detects which demo board is connected and loads the appropriate control screen.

LTpowerPlay is a powerful Windows based development environment that supports Linear Technology digital power ICs with EEPROM, including the LTC2974LTC2974 and LTC2978LTC2978 Quad and Octal PMBus Power Supply Managers, and the LTC3880LTC3880 Dual Output PolyPhase Step-Down DC/DC Controller with Digital Power System Management.The software supports a variety of different tasks. You can use LTpowerPlay to evaluate Linear Technology ICs by connecting to a demo board system.

LTpowerPlay can also be used in an offline mode (with no hardware present) in order to build a multi-chip configuration file that can be saved and re-loaded at a later time. LTpowerPlay provides unprecedented diagnostic and debug features. It becomes a valuable diagnostic tool during board bring-up to program or tweak the power management scheme in a system or to diagnose power issues when bringing up rails.

LTpowerPlay utilizes the DC1613ADC1613A USB-to-SMBus controller to communicate with one of many potential targets, including the LTC2978LTC2978's DC1540DC1540 eval system and DC1508 socketed programming board, or a customer target system. The software also provides an automatic update feature to keep the software current with the latest set of device drivers and documentation.

Key Applications: USB-to-PMBus Controller