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A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) is an 
A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) is an integrated circuit
An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...
for power management
Power management is a feature of some electrical appliances, especially copiers, computers, computer CPUs, computer GPUs and computer peripherals such as monitors and printers, that turns off the power or switches the system to a low-power ...
. Although it is a wide range of chip types, most include several DC/DC converters or their control part. A PMIC is often included in battery-operated devices (such as mobile phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
, portable media player
A portable media player (PMP) or digital audio player (DAP) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. Normally they refer to small, Electric battery, batter ...
s) and embedded devices (such as routers) to decrease the amount of space required.
Overview
The term PMIC refers to a class ofintegrated circuit
An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...
s that perform various functions related to power requirements.
A PMIC may have one or more of the following functions:
* DC-to-DC conversion
* Battery charging
A battery charger, recharger, or simply charger, is a device that energy storage, stores energy in an electric battery by running electric current, current through it. The charging protocol—how much voltage and current, for how long and what ...
* Power-source selection
* Voltage scaling
In computer architecture, dynamic voltage scaling is a power management technique in which the voltage used in a component is increased or decreased, depending upon circumstances. Dynamic voltage scaling to increase voltage is known as overvolt ...
* Power sequencing
* Miscellaneous functions
Power management ICs are solid-state devices that control the flow and direction of electrical power. Many electrical devices use multiple internal voltage
Voltage, also known as (electrical) potential difference, electric pressure, or electric tension, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a Electrostatics, static electric field, it corresponds to the Work (electrical), ...
s (e.g., 5 V, 3.3 V, 1.8 V, etc.) and sources of external power (e.g., wall outlet, battery, etc.), meaning that the power design of the device has multiple requirements for operation. A PMIC can refer to any chip that is an individual power related function, but generally refer to ICs that incorporate more than one function such as different power conversions and power controls such as voltage supervision and undervoltage protection. By incorporating these functions into one IC, a number of improvements to the overall design can be made such as better conversion efficiency, smaller solution size, and better heat dissipation.
Features
A PMIC may include battery management,voltage regulation
In electrical engineering, particularly power engineering, voltage regulation is a measure of change in the voltage magnitude between the sending and receiving end of a component, such as a transmission line, transmission or distribution line. Vol ...
, and charging functions. It may include a DC to DC converter to allow dynamic voltage scaling. Some models are known to feature up to 95% power conversion efficiency. Some models integrate with dynamic frequency scaling
Dynamic frequency scaling (also known as CPU throttling) is a power management technique in computer architecture whereby the frequency of a microprocessor can be automatically adjusted "on the fly" depending on the actual needs, to conserv ...
in a combination known as DVFS (dynamic voltage and frequency scaling).
It may be manufactured using BiCMOS
Bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS) is a semiconductor technology that integrates two semiconductor technologies, those of the bipolar junction transistor and the CMOS (complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) logic gate, into a single integrated circuit. ...
process. They may come as QFN package. Some models feature I²C
I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit; pronounced as "" or ""), alternatively known as I2C and IIC, is a synchronous, multi-master/multi-slave, single-ended, serial communication bus invented in 1980 by Philips Semiconductors (now NXP Semiconduct ...
or SPI serial bus communications interface for I/O.
Some models feature a low-dropout regulator (LDO), and a real-time clock (RTC) co-operating with a backup battery.
A PMIC can use pulse-frequency modulation
Pulse-frequency modulation (PFM) is a modulation method for representing an analog signal using only two levels (1 and 0). It is analogous to pulse-width modulation (PWM), in which the magnitude of an analog signal is encoded in the duty cycle of ...
(PFM) and pulse-width modulation
Pulse-width modulation (PWM), also known as pulse-duration modulation (PDM) or pulse-length modulation (PLM), is any method of representing a signal as a rectangular wave with a varying duty cycle (and for some methods also a varying peri ...
(PWM). It can use switching amplifier (Class-D electronic amplifier).
IC manufacturers
Some of many manufacturers of PMICs: *Analog Devices
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI), also known simply as Analog, is an American multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion, signal processing, and power management technology, headquartered in Wilming ...
* Cypress Semiconductor
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation was an American semiconductor design and manufacturing company. It offered NOR flash memories, F-RAM and SRAM Traveo microcontrollers, PSoCs, PMICs, capacitive touch-sensing controllers, Wireless BLE Bluet ...
* Exar
* Infineon Technologies AG
* Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
* Intersil
* IXYS
* Marvell Semiconductor
* MediaTek
* Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology Incorporated is a publicly listed American semiconductor corporation that manufactures microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog, and Flash-IP integrated circuits.
Its corporate headquarters is located in Chandler, Arizona. ...
* Monolithic Power Systems
* Nordic Semiconductor
* NXP Semiconductors
NXP Semiconductors N.V. is a Dutch semiconductor manufacturing and design company with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is the third largest European semiconductor company by market capitalization as of 2024. The company employs approx ...
* ON Semiconductor
ON Semiconductor Corporation (stylized and doing business as onsemi) is an American semiconductor supplier company, based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Products include power and signal management, logic, discrete, and custom devices for automotive, c ...
* Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...
* Renesas Electronics
* Ricoh Electronic Devices
* Rohm Semiconductor
* Samsung Semiconductor
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEC; stylized as SΛMSUNG; ) is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation founded on 13 January 1969 and headquartered in Yeongtong District, Suwon, South Korea. It is curr ...
* Silergy
Silergy () is a Multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and publicly listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Its headquarters is in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and it operates 30 locations in 10 cou ...
* STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics Naamloze vennootschap, NV (commonly referred to as ST or STMicro) is a European multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the largest of such companies in Europe. ...
* Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...
See also
* Power cycle (power supplies) *Power electronics
Power electronics is the application of electronics to the control and conversion of electric power.
The first high-power electronic devices were made using mercury-arc valves. In modern systems, the conversion is performed with semiconduct ...
* Power management unit (PMU)
* Power ramp
* Quick charge
Quick Charge (QC) is a proprietary charge controller#Charging protocols, battery charging protocol developed by Qualcomm, used for managing power delivered over USB, mainly by communicating to the power supply and negotiating a voltage.
Quick Ch ...
* System basis chip (SBC)
* System management controller (SMC)
References
{{reflist Integrated circuits Motherboard