If every bit of power matters, how do you measure it without wasting it? A new approach solves this and could change how devices are designed.
When you design the battery-powered or energy-constrained systems you might face a constant trade-off. These devices need accurate power measurement to manage runtime, safety, and performance, but measurement itself can drain power. This becomes a bigger issue in devices like IoT sensors, mobile systems, AI edge hardware, or e-mobility electronics where every microamp matters.
Microchip’s PAC1711 and PAC1811 are built to address this problem by providing real-time voltage, current, and power monitoring while consuming about half the power of comparable solutions at typical sampling rates. They also help engineers detect abnormalities early through real-time alerts and a built-in step-alert feature that identifies shifts in long-term power patterns, useful for detecting faults, battery degradation, or unexpected load behavior.
The PAC1711 is a 42-volt, 12-bit single-channel monitor, while the PAC1811 offers higher resolution at 16-bit. Both come in compact VDFN packages with pin layouts matching SOT23-8 devices, making them easy drop-in options for new designs or upgrades in existing boards.
For power trend tracking and battery lifecycle decisions, both devices include an accumulator register that stores recent usage data. Systems that need even lower consumption can switch to a slow-sampling mode that measures once every eight seconds. An I²C interface supports simple integration across computing, networking, AI/ML edge systems, and e-mobility platforms.
To help engineers get started quickly, Microchip offers a Click-format evaluation board compatible with MikroElektronika’s mikroBUS ecosystem. A Linux driver and a generic C library with working examples are also available, making testing and integration easier for firmware and hardware teams.
“Until now, portable devices and a variety of energy-constrained applications have needed to burn a significant amount of valuable power to measure how much they are consuming,” said Keith Pazul, vice president of Microchip’s mixed-signal linear business unit. “Unlike many existing solutions, Microchip’s power monitors function as independent ‘watchdog’ peripherals, eliminating the need for the MCU to handle power monitoring tasks. These monitors allow the MCU or host processor to remain dormant until a significant power event occurs such as needing an LCD screen to power on.”
