As an advanced semiconductor solutions provider, Renesas Electronics Corporation recently expanded its portfolio of AC/DC and power adapter solutions with a new half-wave LLC(HWLLC) platform based on gallium nitride (GaN). The platform supports up to 500W of operating power in IoT, industrial and infrastructure systems.

the new HWLLC converter topology expands the ultra-efficient and compact power supply architecture from 100W to 500W, helping to develop a new generation of high-speed chargers for electric bicycles, power tools and other household appliances, while avoiding the problems of large volume, high heat generation and low efficiency caused by traditional topologies. This portfolio expansion adds four controller integrated circuits (ICs) based on Renesas' Zero Standby Power (ZSP) technology. The core model is RRW11011, an interleaved power factor correction (PFC) and HWLLC combination controller designed for high power density and efficiency.

The PFC function with phase-shift control effectively cancels ripple, reduces component size and cost, balances current and enhances stability. The combined controller helps designers reduce operating temperatures while meeting the wide output range requirements of USB Extended Power Range (EPR) and other variable load charging systems. The new solution also covers RRW30120 USB Power Delivery (PD) protocol and closed-loop controller for USB power delivery up to 240W, as well as RRW40120 half-bridge GaN gate driver and RRW43110 intelligent synchronous rectification controller. In the 240W USB EPR power adapter design, the combined solution can achieve a high power density of 3W/cc and a peak efficiency of 96.5%.

HWLLC's 500W power range broadens the target charging market to cover large TVs and displays, as well as higher power appliances such as vacuum cleaners, power tools, outdoor and industrial lighting, and some medical equipment. This new AC/DC topology based on HWLLC also enables designers to break through the limit of 100W USB-C charging equipment and switch to 240W USB EPR charging standard, thus reducing the dependence of smart phones, notebook computers and some game consoles on dedicated "brick" chargers.

Renesas' latest compact high-power fast charging technology has been applied to a GaN charger from Belkin. The Belkin Z-Charger is powered by a Zero Standby Power (ZSP) chip with Renesas SuperGaN Depletion Mode (d-mode) technology. Jenny Ng, general manager of Belkin Asia, said: "Belkin Z-Charger marks an important step for fast charging to enter a new era of ultra-low standby power consumption."

GaN technology improves the efficiency and power density of Renesas' next-generation AC/DC designs, enabling higher switching performance, helping to reduce magnetic component size, reduce losses, and effectively control temperature rise. Renesas SuperGaN d-mode technology uses a common-source configuration that is more robust and easy to drive than other GaN implementations, has a higher threshold voltage, and is seamlessly compatible with standard silicon gate drivers. This allows customers to build confidence by more quickly developing production-ready, verifiable, high-performance, compact power supplies.

Rohan Samsi, vice president of Renesas' GaN business unit, said: "Renesas' HWLLC ecosystem integrates interleaved PFC and resonant power conversion into a single, highly collaborative solution, providing ultra-compact, wide-range AC/DC power supply with proven high performance, low standby power consumption and reliable integration support. Through the strategic development of four advanced controller ICs, we have created the most optimized collaborative ecosystem, each of which helps to increase power density, improve thermal performance, reduce electromagnetic interference/noise, and improve overall operating efficiency."

Compared to traditional LLC implementations, Renesas has successfully reduced design complexity and achieved a more compact magnetic component layout by eliminating transformer windings and reducing the number of components. This improvement accelerates design reuse for product families that support different power, voltage, and form factors, while improving reliability and simplifying bill of materials (BOM) management. This highly integrated wide input/output voltage (Vin/Vout) offline solution helps customers create smaller, lower temperature rise and easy compliance products, while achieving excellent no-load and standby performance to help achieve higher energy efficiency rating standards.

Renesas will showcase the HWLLC solution at Booth 1219 at the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) to be held March 22-26, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas, USA.