Introduction
Considering the rapid global proliferation of electronic devices in recent years, we can no longer dismiss the environmental impact of these items as insignificant. The number of electronic devices sold each year is well over one billion with at least twice that number already in operation. As the proliferation of mobile electronics grows, these numbers will only grow. It is imperative that the global electronics industry takes steps now to minimize our global environmental/energy footprint while our economic footprint expands. Summit Microelectronics is committed to “do our part” to promote a “greener” electronics industry. As a fabless semiconductor company our contribution is primarily through our intellectual property in the form of semiconductor devices that allow our customers to build “greener” products.
There are three major phases in the life cycle of electronic devices that have significant environmental impact – manufacture, usage, and disposal. Summit’s MobileGreen™ Technologies are features and functions embedded in Summit’s Programmable Power Management integrated circuits that reduce environmental impact at all three phases of the product life cycle – but especially in the conservation of power during the “usage” phase. The gains realized by implementing these technologies may seem small at the level of the individual electronic device but it is easily shown that the aggregate savings, when multiplied by billions of electronic devices in use, can be enormous – on the order of gigawatts and millions of tons of C02 emissions per year.
Some examples of MobileGreen™ Technologies and their benefits are shown below:
TurboCharge™ (patent pending)
Dynamic Voltage Control (DVC)
Dynamic Power Enable/Disable
Switch Mode Operation
Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM)
RoHS