STMicroelectronics says that it sustains up to 4A continuous current over an operating input range of 8.0 to 48V. Insertion loss is low due to the integrated low-RDS(ON) VIPower MOSFET, adds the company.

When connected in series to the main power rail, the fuse protects the load against over-current and over-voltage. The voltage is clamped to a user-defined maximum, preset with external resistors. Current is restricted to the programmed safe limit by controlling the internal power MOSFET It folds back to a lower limit if a strong over-current or short-circuit is detected. 

The BCD8 high-voltage process integrates features such as dV/dt control to prevent excessive inrush current during start-up or hot-swap insertion. This slows the output-voltage ramp-up time to at least 3.0ms, which can be increased if required by connecting an external capacitor. Programmable under-voltage lockout (UVLO) is also set using external components, to allow the user to fine-tune the voltage-rail minimum value to suit the load requirements.

Other features are thermal shutdown with latching or auto-retry, and maximum dissipated-power protection, both preventing high power from damaging the fuse when starting up into heavy capacitive loads, or during large load transients or short-circuits at high voltage. There is also a power-good indicator, and an enable/fault pin that can be used as either a status monitor or to control the device. A dedicated gate-driver output controls an external N-channel MOSFET to implement reverse-current protection.

The fuse can be used to protect industrial hot-swap boards and control equipment, circuit breakers, power buses, security or lighting systems, telecom power modules, or distributed power systems.

It is available now in 14-pin HTSSOP14 package.