San Jose: Power Integrations, the leader in high-voltage integrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion, today introduced PI Expert Suite Version 8, the latest upgrade to its immensely popular power supply design software. The newly released update further improves the productivity of power supply design teams by greatly reducing the time to first prototype and by slashing the number of prototype iterations required to reach a finished product.

PI Expert Suite Version 8 dramatically simplifies the design process by generating a complete schematic of the power supply. The new release also features improved power transformer optimization techniques and a more flexible BOM (bill of materials) selection and report generation feature. New for PI Expert Suite Version 8 is a heatsink calculation and optimization tool which provides the designer with an estimation of the thermal design requirements for a new power supply concept. This may be used to guide layout and mechanical prototyping decisions – avoiding iterations and wasted time. The new version features enhanced PCB layout recommendations based on the device and package chosen, allowing the designer to minimize trace-induced EMI and board area, and also maximize electrical noise immunity and surge tolerance.

Comments Doug Bailey, vice president of marketing at Power Integrations: “Design automation is a critical component of engineering team productivity. PI Expert was the first such tool for power supply designers and remains the only comprehensive design tool capable of satisfying the flexibility demands of experienced power supply designers, while guiding those new to power supply engineering through the maze of technical and regulatory challenges to a successful outcome. The new features in PI Expert Suite Version 8 will further enhance engineering productivity by reducing the design and development investment required to produce a highly reliable and cost-optimized power supply across a wide range of applications.”

The English language release of PI Expert Suite Version 8 can be downloaded now at www.powerint.com/pi-expert. Additional language support will be released later in 2010. Transformer prototypes resulting from the use of this software may be ordered through Power Integrations’ Rapid Transformer Sample Service (RTSS); a quick-start guide describing how to create a compatible design file is available at http://www.powerint.com/rtss.