Mobile phones and wearable products require fast charging and small size adapters

     Charging and battery management remain key features for smartphones, and innovations will continue for years to come. Improvements in wired and wireless charging have the potential to greatly expand the use of portable products, and we are constantly pushing the limits of this capability. Charging systems require power supply products (such as wall adapters) or wireless charging transmitters and receivers (such as smartphones and tablets) to be designed to be energy efficient. Focusing on these two applications, ON Semiconductor offers complete, optimized and energy-efficient charging solutions to meet the power requirements of all these products.

     Market demands for faster charging times, larger battery capacities and smaller adapters have pushed the power capabilities of smartphones and tablets to the point where traditional semiconductor devices are not feasible. The new generation of systems will require gallium nitride (GaN) solutions to replace traditional MOSFETs. GaN offers higher power density in the same area, making it attractive in wall adapters and high-power wireless charging transmitters. There are two main technologies for wireless charging, and one that is easier to meet the high power requirements is the magnetic resonance provided by the AirFuel Alliance. For example, laptops will require transmitters that can push 50 watts to receivers at 6.78MHz, and typically use a GaN power amplifier to design energy-efficient systems.

     At the receiving end, providing energy-efficient power conversion in a small area is crucial for smartphones and wearables. On Semiconductor has a complete line and wireless charging solution, and can provide different levels of integration to meet the needs of designers.

     On the wall adapters side, we offer primary and secondary conversion products, power management and control for all major smart charging protocols such as USB PD, Qualcomm QuickCharge and Mediatek ChargePumpExpress. And continue to use GaN to develop high power density solutions. We also have a wide range of smartphones, wearable solutions, and power and digital switches with different levels of integration to recognize power and data signals and properly connect to the rest of the system.

     For magnetic resonance wireless charging systems, we have a highly integrated power management chip that can handle power transmission from 2W to 50W+ and integrates all system power monitoring into it. For the magnetic resonance wireless charging receiver, we have a variety of different devices, such as a full-bridge rectifier with an IC for power monitoring and conversion, which can handle 20W of received power.