Optocouplers free PWM controllers for home-appliance' power electronics

The primary side power supply controllers/regulators from Dialog Semiconductor are offered for powering electronics inside home appliances such as dishwashers, refrigerators, cooking ranges, microwaves and other high volume appliance applications. The iW1818 and iW1830 AccuSwitch pulse width modulation (PWM) controllers from Dialog are designed to eliminate the need for optocouplers, which are prone to fail after long usage, resulting in the electronics inside home appliances not so reliable. Dialog also claims its patented intelligent digital control loop technology provides accurate voltage cross-regulation between the multiple power rails in the system, without consuming too many external components compared to secondary side controllers used now in many of the home appliances. “The common notion is that primary-side regulation in white goods applications may eliminate the optocoupler, but comes at the expense of voltage cross-regulation accuracy,” explains Davin Lee, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Power Conversion Business Group at Dialog Semiconductor. “Leveraging Dialog’s proven expertise in digital control, the iW1818 and iW1830 provide the best of both worlds – higher reliability of primary-side design and accurate cross regulation for lower cost, longer lifetime appliance designs.” The iW1818 and iW1830 simplify appliance power ...