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Linear Technology Releases New Energy Monitoring IC
New Energy Monitor IC, measures Voltage, Current, Charge, Power and Energy with High Accuracy and I²C Output
Linear Technology release the new LTC2946, a high or low side
charge, power and energy monitor for DC supply rails in the 0V to 100V range. An integrated ±0.4% accurate, 12-bit
ADC and external precision time base (crystal or clock) enables measurement accuracy better than ±0.6% for current
and charge, and ±1% for power and energy. A ±5% accurate internal time base substitutes in the absence of an
external one.
All digital readings, including minimums and maximums of voltage, current and power, are stored in
registers accessible by an I²C/SMBus interface. An alert output signals when measurements exceed configurable
warning thresholds, relieving the host of burdensome polling for data. The LTC2946 provides access to all the
necessary parameters to accurately assess and manage board level energy consumption. In addition its wide
operating range makes it ideal for monitoring board energy consumption in blade servers, telecom, solar and
industrial equipment, and advanced mezzanine cards (AMC).
The LTC2946 can be powered from 2.7V to 5V directly, from 4V to 100V through an internal linear regulator, or
beyond 100V through an internal shunt regulator. Two of the three general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins are
configurable as an accumulator enable and alert output. The internal ADC operates in either a continuous scan mode
or a snapshot mode. In shutdown mode, the device current consumption drops from 900µA to 15µA.
The LTC2946 is available in two options: the LTC2946 I²C interface has separate SDA input and output pins for
standard or opto-isolated I²C, whereas the LTC2946-1 has an inverted SDA output for inverting opto-isolator
configurations. Specified over the commercial, industrial, automotive and military temperature ranges, the LTC2946 is
offered in 16-pin MSOP and 4mm x 3mm DFN packages.
Features of the LTC2946 include:
- Monitors Supply Voltage, Current, Charge, Power & Energy Use
- 0V to 100V Monitoring Range, >100V with Internal Shunt Regulator
- 12-Bit ADC with Scan & Snapshot Modes
- I²C/SMBus Digital Interface
- Guaranteed Accuracy: ±0.4% for 12-Bit Voltage, ±1% for 24-Bit Power & 32-Bit Energy
- Internal ±5%, External or Crystal Time Bases
- Minimum & Maximum Value Recorder
- Bias Supply Range: 4V to 100V, or 2.7V to 5.9V
- Alerts on Exceeding Warning Thresholds
- Shutdown Mode with IQ < 40µA
For more information on the LTC2946 Wide Range I2C Power, Charge and Energy Monitor, visit the Analog Devices Website at
Linear Technology LTC2946 product page
The company's Web site address is www.analog.com.
[Reprinted with kind permission from Linear Technology]