MILPITAS, CA – December 8, 2009 – Linear Technology Corporation announces the LT3990, a 350mA, 60V ultralow quiescent current step-down switching regulator. Its Burst Mode® operation keeps quiescent current under 2.5µA in no load condition. The LT3990’s 4.3V to 60V input voltage range makes it ideal for automotive and industrial applications that need continuous output with ultralow power drain. Its internal 550mA switch can deliver up to 350mA of continuous output current at voltages as low as 1.21V. The LT3990’s Burst Mode operation provides ultralow quiescent current, well suited for automotive or industrial systems, which demand always-on operation and optimum battery life. Switching frequency is user programmable from 200kHz to 2.2MHz, enabling the designer to optimize efficiency while avoiding critical noise-sensitive frequency bands. The combination of its 10-lead 3mm x 2mm DFN-10 (or MSOP) package and high switching frequency keeps external inductors and capacitors small, providing a very compact, thermally efficient footprint.

The LT3990 utilizes a high efficiency 550mA, 300mV switch, with the necessary boost and catch Schottky diodes, oscillator, control and logic circuitry integrated into a single die. Low ripple Burst Mode operation ensures high efficiency at low output currents while keeping output ripple below 5mVPK-PK. Special design techniques and a new high voltage process enable high efficiency over a wide input voltage range, and the LT3990’s current mode topology enables fast transient response and excellent loop stability. Other features include a power good flag soft-start capability and output short protection.

The LT3990EDDB is packaged in a 3mm x 2mm DFN-10, and the LT3990EMS is packaged in a MSOP-10, priced starting at $2.55 and $2.60 each, respectively for 1,000 piece quantities. The LT3990IDDB and LT3990IMS are tested and guaranteed to operate from a -40ºC to 125ºC operating junction temperature and are priced at $2.83 and $2.89 each, respectively in 1,000 piece quantities. All versions are available from stock. For more information, visit www.linear.com.

Summary of Features: LT3990

• Low Ripple Burst Mode® Operation
• 2.5µA IQ at 12VIN to 3.3VOUT
• Output Ripple < 5mVP-P
• Wide Input Voltage Range: 4.3V to 60V Operating
• Adjustable Switching Frequency: 200kHz to 2.2MHz
• Integrated Boost & Catch Diodes
• 350mA Output Current
• Accurate 1V Enable Pin Threshold
• Low Shutdown Current: IQ = 0.7µA
• Internal Sense Limits Catch Diode Current
• Power Good Flag
• Output Voltage: 1.21V to 25V
• Internal Compensation
• Small 10-Pin MSOP & (3mm × 2mm) DFN Packages

About Linear Technology

Linear Technology Corporation, a manufacturer of high performance linear integrated circuits, was founded in 1981, became a public company in 1986 and joined the S&P 500 index of major public companies in 2000. Linear Technology products include high performance amplifiers, comparators, voltage references, monolithic filters, linear regulators, DC-DC converters, battery chargers, data converters, communications interface circuits, RF signal conditioning circuits, µModule® products, and many other analog functions. Applications for Linear Technology’s high performance circuits include telecommunications, cellular telephones, networking products such as optical switches, notebook and desktop computers, computer peripherals, video/multimedia, industrial instrumentation, security monitoring devices, high-end consumer products such as digital cameras and MP3 players, complex medical devices, automotive electronics, factory automation, process control, and military and space systems.

MILPITAS, CA – December 8, 2009 – Linear Technology Corporation announces the LT3990, a 350mA, 60V ultralow quiescent current step-down switching regulator. Its Burst Mode® operation keeps quiescent current under 2.5µA in no load condition. The LT3990’s 4.3V to 60V input voltage range makes it ideal for automotive and industrial applications that need continuous output with ultralow power drain. Its internal 550mA switch can deliver up to 350mA of continuous output current at voltages as low as 1.21V. The LT3990’s Burst Mode operation provides ultralow quiescent current, well suited for automotive or industrial systems, which demand always-on operation and optimum battery life. Switching frequency is user programmable from 200kHz to 2.2MHz, enabling the designer to optimize efficiency while avoiding critical noise-sensitive frequency bands. The combination of its 10-lead 3mm x 2mm DFN-10 (or MSOP) package and high switching frequency keeps external inductors and capacitors small, providing a very compact, thermally efficient footprint.

The LT3990 utilizes a high efficiency 550mA, 300mV switch, with the necessary boost and catch Schottky diodes, oscillator, control and logic circuitry integrated into a single die. Low ripple Burst Mode operation ensures high efficiency at low output currents while keeping output ripple below 5mVPK-PK. Special design techniques and a new high voltage process enable high efficiency over a wide input voltage range, and the LT3990’s current mode topology enables fast transient response and excellent loop stability. Other features include a power good flag soft-start capability and output short protection.

The LT3990EDDB is packaged in a 3mm x 2mm DFN-10, and the LT3990EMS is packaged in a MSOP-10, priced starting at $2.55 and $2.60 each, respectively for 1,000 piece quantities. The LT3990IDDB and LT3990IMS are tested and guaranteed to operate from a -40ºC to 125ºC operating junction temperature and are priced at $2.83 and $2.89 each, respectively in 1,000 piece quantities. All versions are available from stock. For more information, visit www.linear.com.

Summary of Features: LT3990

• Low Ripple Burst Mode® Operation
• 2.5µA IQ at 12VIN to 3.3VOUT
• Output Ripple < 5mVP-P
• Wide Input Voltage Range: 4.3V to 60V Operating
• Adjustable Switching Frequency: 200kHz to 2.2MHz
• Integrated Boost & Catch Diodes
• 350mA Output Current
• Accurate 1V Enable Pin Threshold
• Low Shutdown Current: IQ = 0.7µA
• Internal Sense Limits Catch Diode Current
• Power Good Flag
• Output Voltage: 1.21V to 25V
• Internal Compensation
• Small 10-Pin MSOP & (3mm × 2mm) DFN Packages

About Linear Technology

Linear Technology Corporation, a manufacturer of high performance linear integrated circuits, was founded in 1981, became a public company in 1986 and joined the S&P 500 index of major public companies in 2000. Linear Technology products include high performance amplifiers, comparators, voltage references, monolithic filters, linear regulators, DC-DC converters, battery chargers, data converters, communications interface circuits, RF signal conditioning circuits, µModule® products, and many other analog functions. Applications for Linear Technology’s high performance circuits include telecommunications, cellular telephones, networking products such as optical switches, notebook and desktop computers, computer peripherals, video/multimedia, industrial instrumentation, security monitoring devices, high-end consumer products such as digital cameras and MP3 players, complex medical devices, automotive electronics, factory automation, process control, and military and space systems.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., December 8, 2009—Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing, today announced that Loongson Technology Co., Ltd. (Loongson) (funded by the Institute of Computing Technologies of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) achieved first-pass silicon success on its 65nm, multicore, high performance Loongson-3 CPU design using Synopsys’ CustomSim(TM) circuit simulator. The CustomSim solution was successfully deployed for timing and dynamic power simulation of advanced full-custom blocks, PLL, HyperTransport, register file, and content-addressable memory (CAM). The CustomSim solutions’s SPICE-level precision and higher performance versus other FastSPICE tools enabled Loongson to achieve first-pass silicon success with 3x faster verification turnaround time.

“The gigahertz clock speed and multicore architecture of the Loongson-3 CPU required precise timing and power simulation to verify its aggressive design targets,” said Dr. Hu WeiWu, principal scientist and program manager of the Loongson project. “Synopsys’ CustomSim circuit simulation technology delivered the highest accuracy and performance compared with the other simulators we evaluated. Using CustomSim, we significantly shortened the verification time for the complex custom blocks and achieved first-pass working silicon with 3x overall reduction in the full custom design cycle.”

The CustomSim solution unifies the best-in-class simulation technologies of NanoSim(R), HSIM(R) and XA with added multicore processing capabilities. For full-chip verification, the CustomSim solution is tightly coupled to the VCS(R) functional verification solution via a Direct Kernel Integration and is also combined with a unified analogue/mixed-signal (AMS) verification environment which simplifies usability through a common set of inputs, outputs and device models.

“Advanced processor design companies like Loongson need high performance and accurate simulation to meet competitive performance and power specifications,” said Farhad Hayat, senior director of marketing, analogue/mixed-signal group at Synopsys. “The robust simulation technologies and advanced analysis features in CustomSim enable our customers to realise tangible verification benefits for a wide range of custom and analogue/mixed-signal designs.”
About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA), supplying the global electronics market with the software, intellectual property (IP) and services used in semiconductor design, verification and manufacturing. Synopsys’ comprehensive, integrated portfolio of implementation, verification, IP, manufacturing and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) solutions helps address the key challenges designers and manufacturers face today, such as power and yield management, software-to-silicon verification and time-to-results. These technology leading solutions help give Synopsys customers a competitive edge in bringing the best products to market quickly while reducing costs and schedule risk. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has more than 65 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com.