World’s smallest 65W GaN charger fits in a European power soc...

May 28, 2023

Silanna Semiconductor is working with Dutch smart socket specialist Smarter Living on the world’s smallest 65W in-wall gallium nitride (GaN) fast charger.

Measuring just 42mm x 42mm x 30mm, the 3510PDFE GaN charger is built around Silanna’s SZ1131 active clamp flyback (ACF) controller and is the first in a series of small form factor wall sockets that Smarter Living will be providing for global markets.

Smarter Living’s 3510PDFE 65W charger provides a single USB output, delivers power delivery (PD) voltage outputs of 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V and 20V and supports Programmable Power Supply (PPS) charging. Output currents are up to 3.25A. The socket is designed for fixed installations and is fully compliant with international IEC-EN 62368-1 electrical safety standards.

The SZ1131 incorporates an adaptive digital PWM controller, ultra-high-voltage (UHV) active clamp FET, active clamp gate driver and startup regulator. Efficiencies of up to 95% across universal (90Vac – 265Vac) input voltages and varying loads and ultra-low no-load power of less than 20mW enable smaller form factors and reduce overall energy consumption.

The 3510PDFE has been tested by third-party testing laboratory DEKRA in accordance with the latest IEC and EN test requirements to demonstrate full compliance with current low voltage and EMC directives. Future products in the Smarter Living wall-mounted USB charger series will include 30W and 45W options with single and dual USB Type-C ports.

“The demand for wall-mounted USB charging outlets is growing rapidly and customers are expecting increasingly higher output powers in the smallest form factors” said Jean-Paul Otto, CEO of Smarter Living. The company is based in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, and has production facilities in China, the Netherlands and Germany, supporting leading OEM customers all over Europe. It is the market leader for German-type socket outlets with built-in USB chargers and the company’s in-house designed chargers are certified by the German test house VDE.

“Partnering with Silanna Semiconductor allows us to rapidly develop a series of charging sockets that address these requirements by offering high-performance, efficient and compact charging solutions that can quickly and easily be deployed across a variety of markets,” said Otto.

“The SZ1131 ACF controller is designed to help manufacturers deliver the high-performance fast charging demanded by power-hungry mobile phones, tablets, notebooks and gaming consoles with the smallest form factor and the lowest energy requirements. By working closely with Smarter Living, we have been able to bring these benefits to the world’s smallest wall-mounted 65W GaN charger,” said Mark Drucker, Silanna Semiconductor’s CEO.

The controller provides the ease-of-design of a simple flyback controller with all the benefits of an ACF design, including recycling the leakage inductance energy of the flyback transformer and limiting the primary FET drain voltage spike during the turn-off events. Employing Silanna Semiconductor’s OptiMode digital control architecture, the SZ1131 adjusts the device’s mode of operation on a cycle-by-cycle basis to maintain high efficiency, low EMI, fast dynamic load regulation, and other key power supply parameters in response to varying line voltage and load.

The 3510PDFE is available now in limited quantities for sampling. General market availability is scheduled for September 2022.

smarterliving.nl/en; www.powerdensity.com