As 5G/6G communications, data center AI computing, and smart edge devices experience explosive growth, the semiconductor industry is facing two core challenges: how to achieve higher power density and ultra-low energy consumption under surging computing power demands, and how to complete the measurement of extremely weak signals with higher precision and bandwidth.
At electronica China 2026, semiconductor manufacturer ADI (Analog Devices, Inc.) showcased its latest power management and instrumentation solutions, providing new approaches to overcome these two technical bottlenecks.
Figure | ADI's booth at electronica China 2026; Source: Photographed by eefocus
Fundamental Breakthroughs in Power Management: From "Zero Standby" to Kilowatt-Level High Efficiency
The efficiency of Power Management ICs (PMICs) directly determines the operational efficiency and battery life of terminal systems. The technologies showcased by ADI this time precisely address the power consumption pain points ranging from microwatt-level sensors to kilowatt-level AI servers.
-
Enabling Energy-Efficient System Design with ADI Nano-power Switching Controller Portfolio
Figure | Energy-saving effect of the ADI Nano-power switching controller portfolio in an ambient air quality monitor; Source: Photographed by eefocus
In applications such as wireless sensing and environmental monitoring, devices often do not need to run continuously and only require periodic sampling. Traditional solutions focus on reducing the standby power consumption of the chip itself to the nanoampere (nA) level, whereas the MAX16163 switching controller adopts the approach of directly cutting off the power supply.
Huang Qingyi, Senior Marketing Manager for Power Business in ADI Asia Pacific, explained, "This chip integrates a power switch internally. One end is connected to the battery, and the other end is connected to the MCU and communication module. It completely disconnects the downstream circuits during non-sampling periods, reducing the system standby power consumption to zero."
"Engineers can flexibly configure the sleep cycle through external resistors or I²C. Taking the ambient air quality monitor as an example, after equipping it with the MAX16163, the system's average power drops sharply from over 400 milliwatts to 250 milliwatts, which can increase the battery life of the device by at least 1.5 times."
-
LT8622S: 18V/2A Step-Down Silent Switcher with Low Noise Reference
Figure | Demo of the LT8622S with a low noise reference; Source: Photographed by eefocus
To meet the stringent noise requirements of RF power supplies and high-precision ADCs/DACs, ADI introduced the LT8622S. This step-down chip adopts the Silent Switcher® 3 architecture, reducing the RMS noise to 4μVRMS in the 10Hz to 100kHz frequency band, with performance levels approaching those of an LDO.
At the same time, it features an industry-leading minimum on-time of 12ns, allowing the system to perform large voltage step-down conversions from high to extremely low voltages even at high operating frequencies, significantly improving dynamic response speed.
-
ADPM12200: 2000W, Quarter-Brick Non-Isolated DC Power Module
Figure | 2000W non-isolated DC power module ADPM12200; Source: Photographed by eefocus
Addressing the high-current peak power supply demands of data center and AI computing chips, the ADPM12200 1/4-brick DC power module achieves a normal output of 2000W and a peak power of up to 3000W, while supporting multi-module parallel operation.
Huang Qingyi stated that the module adopts ADI's patented four-phase coupled inductor technology, creating a specific coupling relationship between phases. This significantly reduces conduction losses under heavy and full loads, achieving a half-load efficiency of up to 98%, and demonstrating excellent dynamic response and overshoot control capabilities during drastic load changes.
The Pinnacle of Instrumentation Technology: Precision Signal Chains and Ultra-High-Speed Sampling
Instrumentation places the highest demands on precision and reliability among all applications. ADI has deeply cultivated precision signal chains and digital architectures, pushing measurement capabilities across the full frequency band from DC to multiple GHz.
-
High-Precision 7.5-Digit DMM Solution + Digitally Controlled High-Voltage SMU + DC-Coupled Digitizer
Figure | High-precision 7.5-digit DMM solution; Source: Photographed by eefocus
In terms of precision DC measurement, ADI's 7.5-digit digital multimeter (DMM) solution is based on a 24-bit, 2MSPS SAR ADC (AD4630) and the ADR1001 precision reference, paired with high-performance amplifiers. This achieves extremely high measurement resolution and high fidelity, reducing noise interference to a very low level in actual tests.
To meet the precision testing requirements for high voltage and high current, ADI's four-channel digitally controlled SMU (ADMX3001) supports a wide range of outputs from ±100V and ±1A.
Figure | Four-channel digitally controlled SMU; Source: Photographed by eefocus
Jiang Haitao, Senior Marketing Manager of ADI's Instrumentation Business Unit, stated that the design integrates a digital PID control loop and provides a flexible architecture. Specifically, the hardware capacitance and current offer multi-gear adjustments, allowing downstream customers to trim costs by directly replacing components such as low-voltage amplifiers, greatly enhancing the adaptability for production line testing.
Figure | DC-coupled digitizer; Source: Photographed by eefocus
For ultra-high-speed sampling scenarios, the ADMX6001 DC-coupled digitizer provides robust performance with 12-bit resolution, 10G sampling rate, and 5G bandwidth, and can be widely used in time-of-flight mass spectrometers and high-end oscilloscopes.
-
Instrument-Grade FR3 RFFE Solution + 4-Channel 5GHz VNA
Figure | Instrument-grade FR3 RFFE solution; Source: Photographed by eefocus
In the field of RF and wireless testing, the FR3 RFFE solution supports the 6 to 18GHz frequency band with a channel bandwidth of up to 4GHz, fully integrating a bidirectional transceiver chain and next-generation RF data converters.
Jiang Haitao revealed that this highly linear front-end platform is specifically optimized for next-generation wireless testing such as 6G FR3, Wi-Fi 7/8, and UWB, solving the industry pain points of difficult PCB layout and testing in RF development.
Figure | Modular designed 4-channel 8.5GHz VNA; Source: Photographed by eefocus
In addition, the SNA3308 adopts a PXIe modular standard 3U design, integrating a 4-channel Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) within a 2-slot space, significantly saving instrument space and costs for production lines and laboratories.
Paradigm Shift in Business Model: Building the "Scaffolding" for Technology
Beyond excellent hardware specifications, the more core value behind ADI's technology layout lies in the transformation of semiconductor technology support methods—shifting from selling individual chips to providing pre-validated system-level solutions.
Jiang Haitao pointed out that the time-to-market for current terminal products is severely compressed, and a new product is often required to be launched into the market within half a year. If downstream manufacturers start with purchasing individual chips, going through PCB layout, RF debugging, and writing high-precision compensation algorithms, it often takes 1 to 2 years, and they face the dilemma of lacking experienced engineers. This model of "exploring from scratch" is no longer able to adapt to the fast-paced market.
To solve this pain point, ADI has changed its previous model of only providing high-performance discrete devices, and instead helps customers build the system-level "scaffolding".
Figure | High-performance precision impedance measurement and analysis module; Source: Photographed by eefocus
For example, in the field of inductance, capacitance, and resistance measurement, traditional LCR testers are usually bulky and expensive cabinet-style equipment. The modular LCR design launched by ADI this time adopts a plug-and-play architecture. Whether customers purchase the complete solution or integrate it through a custom baseboard, they can achieve rapid deployment while significantly reducing size and cost.
"This model allows customers to no longer need to research the underlying physics and signal chain principles from scratch, but instead can directly develop upper-layer applications on a mature system platform," Jiang Haitao summarized.
"At the same time, this platform-based strategy has also extended into a flexible business model: for customers with different needs, ADI supports simply selling chips with free reference designs; it also supports directly supplying completed hardware boards to achieve plug-and-play; it can even provide customers with the full set of design drawings for independent production, charging appropriate fees only for the software part. This flexible empowerment approach enables small and medium-sized enterprises (Broad Market customers) without large-scale R&D teams to quickly shorten their product time-to-market."
Conclusion
Financial report data shows that the industrial business accounts for about 45% of ADI's overall revenue, and instrumentation and measurement account for more than one-third of the industrial business. This data reflects the importance of this segment as a technological cornerstone.
From smart switches that actively cut off power supply, to AI power modules supporting kilowatt-level computing power, to the platform-based thinking of "building the scaffolding," the evolution of semiconductor technology is transcending the mere device dimension, comprehensively empowering innovators in the intelligent edge era through deep system-level integration.