Microchip adds energy tracking to 65V power monitor ICs

Microchip Technology has announced the PAC1761 and PAC1861 families of 65V digital power monitors, aimed at engineers managing the shift towards 48V power architectures in automotive, AI/data centre, networking, industrial and telecom/PoE systems.

Measurement headroom and energy tracking

Both families measure up to 65V and provide 75V of spike protection, giving designers margin against transient events on 48V rails. Alongside instantaneous voltage, current and power readings, the devices accumulate energy-use data over time, which Microchip says lets systems respond to longer-term power behaviour rather than single-point measurements.

Features include programmable alerts for voltage, current and power excursions, step-limit detection for sudden load changes, and configurable accumulated-energy thresholds intended to support proactive system management.

Resolution and package options

The PAC1761 offers 12-bit resolution and the PAC1861 16-bit, in the following package options:

• VDFN-8 (similar to SOT23-8)
• VDFN-10
• MSOP-10, including automotive-orderable variants

Microchip says pin-compatible options across the range are intended to reduce redesign risk and shorten qualification cycles when requirements, availability, cost or performance change.

Keith Pazul, vice president of Microchip's mixed-signal linear business unit, said the devices are designed to help customers build more reliable 48V systems that combine instantaneous measurement with an understanding of energy consumption and availability over time.

Development support includes the EV12R33A evaluation board, a Python command line interface with library, a Linux driver and a generic C library with MCU code examples. Microchip states that the PAC1761T-3E/E3 and PAC1861T-1E/3P, both in MSOP-10, are available now starting at $0.56 each in 10,000-unit quantities, with the EV12R33A evaluation board priced at $49.00.