The MAX1864/MAX1865 power-supply controllers are designed to address cost-conscious applications such as cable modem Consumer Premise Equipment (CPE), xDSL CPE, and set-top boxes. Operating off a low-cost, unregulated DC supply (such as a wall adapter output), the MAX1864 generates three positive outputs, and the MAX1865 generates four positive outputs and one negative output to provide a cost-effective system power supply.

The MAX1864 includes a current-mode synchronous step-down controller and two positive regulator gain blocks. The MAX1865 has one additional positive gain block and one negative regulator gain block. The main synchronous step-down controller generates a high-current output that is preset to 3.3V or adjustable from 1.236V to 0.8 x V_IN with an external resistive-divider. The 100kHz/200kHz operating frequency allows the use of low-cost aluminum-electrolytic capacitors and low-cost power magnetics. Additionally, the MAX1864/MAX1865 step-down controllers sense the voltage across the low-side MOSFET's on-resistance to efficiently provide the current-limit signal, eliminating the need for costly current-sense resistors.

The MAX1864/MAX1865 generate additional supply rails at low cost. The positive regulator gain blocks use an external PNP pass transistor to generate low-voltage rails directly from the main step-down converter (such as 2.5V or 1.8V from the main 3.3V output) or higher voltages using coupled windings from the step-down converter (such as 5V, 12V, or 15V). The MAX1865's negative gain block uses an external NPN pass transistor in conjunction with a coupled winding to generate -5V, -12V, or -15V.

All output voltages are externally adjustable, providing maximum flexibility. Additionally, the MAX1864/MAX1865 feature soft-start for the step-down converter and all the positive linear regulators, and have a power-good output that monitors all of the output voltages.