Microchip launches PAC1761/PAC1861 power monitors for 48V systems
Microchip Technology has introduced two new families of digital power monitors, the PAC1761 and PAC1861, designed to help engineers build more resilient 48V power architectures across automotive, AI data-centre, networking and industrial applications. Available now, the devices are priced from $0.56 each in 10,000-unit quantities, with a $49 evaluation board also on offer.
The key distinction Microchip is drawing is between snapshot power measurement and what it terms energy-aware monitoring: the ability to accumulate power data over time and act on trends rather than simply react to instantaneous readings. Both families support up to 65V measurement headroom and 75V transient spike protection, figures the company says are necessary margins when working with 48V bus architectures that can produce voltage spikes well above nominal.
Technical specification
The PAC1761 is a 12-bit device; the PAC1861 steps up to 16-bit resolution, offering greater precision in applications where fine-grained energy accounting matters. Both families ship in VDFN-8, VDFN-10 and MSOP-10 packages, with pin-compatible options across the range. That pin compatibility is a practical purchasing advantage: design teams can move between the two families, or substitute devices as supply conditions or cost targets shift, without a full board respin. Automotive-orderable variants are available for customers targeting AEC-Q100-qualified supply chains.
Programmable features include voltage, current and power excursion alerts, step-limit detection for identifying sudden load changes, and configurable accumulated-energy thresholds. The last of these allows a system to take action based on cumulative energy budget rather than waiting for an instantaneous trip point, which is particularly relevant for battery-backed or energy-constrained systems.
Keith Pazul, vice president of Microchip's mixed-signal linear business unit, said: "The industry conversation is shifting from measuring power at a single point in time to understanding and responding to energy behaviour across an entire system and its lifecycle."
Development support includes an evaluation board, a Python command-line interface with library, a Linux driver and a generic C library with multiple MCU code examples, lowering the barrier for teams prototyping 48V designs.
Market context
The migration from 12V to 48V power distribution is well under way across several verticals. In AI data centres, 48V bus architectures reduce resistive losses at the high current loads demanded by GPU and accelerator clusters, and are increasingly specified in rack power delivery standards being developed by groups such as the Open Compute Project. Automotive is following a parallel path, driven by electrification and the power appetite of advanced driver-assistance systems.
The digital power monitoring market is occupied by a number of established semiconductor players, including Texas Instruments, Renesas and Monolithic Power Systems, all of which offer competing INA-series and similar devices. Microchip's positioning here centres on the combination of accumulated-energy intelligence and the higher voltage headroom required for 48V operation, rather than competing purely on price per channel.
Telecom and Power over Ethernet applications are also listed as target markets, a signal that Microchip sees the 48V transition extending into network edge infrastructure as PoE power levels continue to rise with newer IEEE standards.
For enterprise infrastructure teams specifying rack-level power management, the PAC1861's 16-bit resolution and automotive-grade supply chain options may carry additional weight as buyers look to diversify component sourcing after recent memory of supply constraints.