Power Integrations Debuts Support for Planar Magnetics in PI Expert Power Supply Design Tool

Software automatically generates a planar transformer design with full electrical specification and build documentation in just five minutes

San Jose, Calif. – Oct. 25, 2022 – Power Integrations (NASDAQ: POWI), the leader in high-voltage integrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion, today launched a new function in PI Expert™, the powerful online design tool that automatically generates optimized power supply designs based on users’ specifications. PI Expert now features a planar magnetics builder that generates an application-specific planar transformer design complete with printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer-ready documentation and Gerber files. The latest version of PI Expert now also includes support for Power Integrations’ entire InnoSwitch™3 flyback switcher IC family.

Trevor Hiatt, director of channel marketing at Power Integrations said: “Planar transformers facilitate low-profile flyback power supplies. With our new planar magnetics builder, designers can incorporate a sophisticated low-profile transformer in minutes. No other design tool can do this.”

The magnetics designer function in PI Expert provides full planar transformer information including stack specification, vertical and horizontal PCB construction, trace parameters, current density information and layer resistance. The tool automatically incorporates user-specified creepage and clearance distances necessary to meet safety isolation standards. An intuitive GUI provides vertical and horizontal stack construction and a bird’s eye view for all layers. The tool also outputs detailed manufacturing information of the planar solution, enabling users to go directly from design to fabrication.

The tool provides a comprehensive database of planar cores and components to simplify design and can also accept custom core geometries. PI Expert automatically optimizes the planar transformer design to match the power supply specification, incorporating additional winding layers and adjusting trace geometries as appropriate.

PI Expert leverages decades of PI’s combined power supply design expertise and is used by tens of thousands of global engineers annually. For more information, access the tool at power.com or watch this video.