1 Introduction

There is a strong trend towards smaller form factors in electronic board designs. At the same time, there is also an increasing need for more power rails and, in some cases, higher currents to supply digital cores like Micro-Controller Units (MCU), field-programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), or other embedded processors. In terms of power design, this translates into the need for integrated circuits (ICs) with higher power density where thermal design becomes critical to achieve the required performance without compromising cost. This application report focuses on DC/DC converters in SOT23 and the new, 65% smaller, SOT563 packages. More specifically on the performance differences of a same non-isolated 5-V/2-A buck converter (TLV62569) in three different packages: SOT 23-5, SOT23-6, and SOT563.

After an overview of the SOT23 and SOT563 packaging technology, this application report shows the thermal performances of the TLV62569 in different packages and discusses the impact in specific power designs. It also introduces the performance differences of 17 V/3 A series parts between SOT236 and SOT563 package. TPS56x201/8 is 17 V 1~5 A series part with SOT236 package. TPS56x202/7 is 17V 2~3 A series part with SOT563 package. Table 1-1 shows the part number of these two family parts. Finally, it summarizes the advantages of each package to help the designer choose the right package for addressing key challenges in his/her end equipment.