I just gave National Semiconductor’s Nano module a try. I was amazed with its performance.
Thought i would share with you guys for those looking for a 5v to 3.3v @ 1A power supply in a very small package.
After getting the demo board, and trying it out i then put one on one of my boards. I am so impressed with it.
Currently i have 5v in and its pushing 764ma out. Placing my finger on it i cannot even detect any temperature rise!
I took a photo of the demo board & put a 1206 resistor next to it to for size comparison.
Other things i like about it are minimal external parts. just need 3 caps & 2 resistors.
10uf on the input and output.
470pf on the ref pin
2 resistors to set the output voltage.
Well that is hard to say as there are so many regs out there today, and application specifics rule in/out many.
To kinda answer your question, typical switching power supplies require 3 main components. The IC, coil and flyback diode. This IC i mention here needs none of these.
So the final cost is lower. almost every design i have done uses nationals switchers. though i like them they will get a tad warm when pushing this kind of current. This one here runs cool as a cumber @ 750ma.
not cheap though; from Element14 here in AU, they’re showing 8.88 in 1’s (for some reason the ROHS one is 6.77, so I know what I’d be buying!). But as you say, the hidden cost is really in the “missing” components; the fact you don’t need to spend a lot of effort figuring out the right inductor is a huge plus, the fact they don’t generate heat more so.