NORWOOD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), a global leader in high-performance semiconductors for signal-processing applications, has introduced the first packaging technology for digital isolators that achieves a minimum of 8-mm creepage distance required by global industry standards to ensure safe operation in high-voltage medical and industrial applications. Incorporating Analog Devices’ award-winning iCoupler® digital isolation technology, the CSA International- (Canadian Standards Association) certified package achieves 8.3-mm creepage and is designed for use in advanced medical diagnostic, measurement and monitoring, and industrial and instrumentation systems that operate up to 220-250 V AC. The new packaging enables designers to replace lower performing optocouplers with ADI’s digital isolators, while meeting the minimum creepage requirements necessary for these applications.
- To watch a short video on the new iCoupler digital isolator packaging, visit http://www.analog.com/8mmpackaging.
Creepage is the shortest distance over an insulating surface, such as an IC package, over which an arc may travel between two galvanically isolated conductors. To ensure adequate insulation, a 125-V working voltage requires 6 mm of creepage, while a 220-250-V working voltage requires a package with a minimum of 8 mm. The JEDEC standard 16-lead SOIC has 7.6 mm of creepage measured around the end of the package and does not meet the 220-250-V AC requirements to ensure safe operation in high-voltage medical and industrial applications. By increasing the length of the standard JEDEC package by 2.5 mm, ADI is able to enlarge the creepage path to 8.3 mm. The resulting package remains compatible with JEDEC standard footprint with minimal impact on board space.
“Analog Devices is the only semiconductor manufacturer to offer digital isolators in packaging that exceeds minimum insulation requirements for sensitive, high-voltage applications,” said Patrick O’Doherty, vice president, Healthcare Group, Analog Devices. “The new SOIC packaging makes it possible for designers of 220-250-V medical equipment, such as patient monitoring devices, to migrate their design requirements from optocouplers to ADI’s extensive digital isolator portfolio. Using a single iCoupler digital isolator can reduce overall board space while delivering four times the data rate and using 90 percent less power.”
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iCoupler Digital Isolators Available in 16-Lead Certified SOIC Package |
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Product |
Description |
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Dual-channel isolators |
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Dual-channel isolators |
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Isolators with non-latching bidirectional communication channels |
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Quad-channel isolators |
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USB isolator |
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Quad-channel isolators |
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Isolated dc-to-dc converter* |
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Dual-channel 5-kV isolators with integrated dc-to-dc converter* |
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Quad-channel isolators with integrated dc-to-dc converter* |
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5-kV rms signal and power isolated RS-485 transceivers* |
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*Certificate available in December. |
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iCoupler Technology
As the global leader in digital isolation, ADI’s proven iCoupler technology is based on chip-scale transformers, rather than on the LEDs and photodiodes found in optocouplers. Transformers support higher data rates, consume less power, and are more stable over life compared to LEDs and photodiodes. By fabricating the transformers directly on-chip using wafer-level processing, iCoupler channels can be integrated with each other and other semiconductor functions at low cost. iCoupler transformers are planar structures formed from CMOS and gold metal layers.
A high-breakdown thick polyimide layer underneath the gold layer insulates the top transformer coil from the bottom coil, resulting in the most reliable and highest level of digital isolation available. CMOS circuits connected to the top coil and bottom coil provide the interface between each transformer and its external signals. With more than a half a billion channels deployed, ADI’s iCoupler digital isolation technology has been designed into hundreds of applications, such as USB isolation in patient monitors, where it allows hospitals and physicians to adopt the latest advances in computer technology to supervise patient health and wirelessly transmit medical records without compromising patient safety.
About Analog Devices
Innovation, performance, and excellence are the cultural pillars on which Analog Devices has built one of the longest standing, highest growth companies within the technology sector. Acknowledged industry-wide as the world leader in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, Analog Devices serves over 60,000 customers, representing virtually all types of electronic equipment. Analog Devices is headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, with design and manufacturing facilities throughout the world. Analog Devices' common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “ADI” and is included in the S&P 500 Index. http://www.analog.com
iCoupler is a registered trademarks of Analog Devices, Inc.
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