Why ON Semiconductor’s NCP170 regulator quietly hits a sweet spot for IoT designers

ON Semiconductor’s NCP170 ultra-low quiescent current LDO looks unassuming, but in tiny battery-driven IoT nodes it can make the difference between a product that needs a ladder every few months and one that just keeps reporting from the field.

Reviewed: ad hoc news Software & Services desk. Edited and checked on 2026-06-18, 02:35. Details in the imprint.

With the NCP170 ultra-low Iq LDO regulator, ON Semiconductor is targeting exactly the spot where IoT gadgets silently live or die on their coin cells. Picture a tiny sensor node, deep inside a wall or high under a roof - this little regulator decides how often you need that ladder.

What the NCP170 is built to do

The NCP170 is a CMOS low-dropout regulator optimised for battery-powered devices that need to sip current rather than gulp it. It delivers output currents up to 150 mA while keeping quiescent current down at a few hundred nanoamps, even at light loads.

ON Semiconductor offers the device in versions from 1.2 V up to 5.3 V output, with tight tolerance to keep modern MCUs and radios within their comfort zone. The part is housed in tiny packages such as XDFN4 and WLCSP, which practically disappear on dense sensor boards.

Why ultra-low Iq matters in practice

In a coin-cell IoT node, the regulator’s own quiescent current can quietly dominate the energy budget while the microcontroller sleeps. Here, the NCP170’s sub-microamp Iq stretches the time between service calls in a sobering, very measurable way.

Designers feel this directly in battery-life calculations: every extra microamp taken by the LDO shaves days or weeks from field life. With smart meters or leak detectors sealed into infrastructure, those weeks can turn into truck rolls and real operating cost.

Dropout, noise and stability

The NCP170 keeps dropout voltage low enough that designers can use more of the battery’s discharge curve before a brownout resets the system. That is particularly practical with alkaline or lithium primary cells that slowly sag over years of service.

At the same time, the regulator keeps output noise and ripple under control, an important point when you place a sensitive RF transceiver or MEMS sensor a few millimetres away. The part is designed to remain stable with small ceramic output capacitors, simplifying the bill of materials.

How it fits into real designs

In everyday work, the NCP170 often sits between a coin cell or energy harvester and an ultra-low-power microcontroller in wearables, trackers or industrial beacons. Its microscopic footprint leaves more room for antennas and sensors on cramped PCBs.

Compared with more generic LDOs, engineers trade away some absolute maximum current for dramatically lower standby losses. For many IoT nodes that wake up briefly, send a packet and vanish into sleep again, that is an elegant and consistent compromise.

Pricing and availability

ON Semiconductor positions the NCP170 as a volume component for mass-market IoT and portable devices, with pricing tuned for multi-year deployments. The regulator is broadly available through major distributors in Europe and North America as well as Asia-Pacific.

Developers in Germany can source the NCP170 through the usual catalog distributors, often with several voltage options in stock. Reference designs and datasheets are accessible via the company’s global product page, which helps shorten evaluation cycles.

Where ON Semiconductor wants to go

The NCP170 is one of many small analog bricks ON Semiconductor uses to anchor itself deeper into energy-efficient edge devices. Around it, the group offers matching power switches, battery chargers and sensor interfaces that let OEMs keep more of the design on a single vendor’s shelf.

All told, the device underlines ON Semiconductor’s focus on power efficiency across automotive, industrial and IoT markets, where every milliwatt squeezed out of the system can turn into either longer range, more features or simply fewer maintenance visits.

Context and the ON Semiconductor share

ON Semiconductor, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, positions itself as a specialist for intelligent power and sensing solutions, from SiC devices for electric vehicles to compact regulators like the NCP170 for connected sensors. Shares of ON Semiconductor (US6821891035) trade on Nasdaq in US dollars.

Key facts on the NCP170 regulator

• Product: NCP170 ultra-low Iq LDO regulator
• Manufacturer: ON Semiconductor Corp.
• Category: Software-linked service component (power management IC)
• Launch: Introduced as part of ON Semiconductor’s ultra-low-power LDO family in recent product generations
• RRP / Price: Typically low single-digit US cents in high volumes, distributor pricing varies
• Availability: Broadly available through major electronics distributors in Europe, North America and Asia
• Target group: Hardware and embedded designers building battery-powered IoT, wearable and industrial sensing devices
• Highlight / USP: Ultra-low quiescent current with up to 150 mA output in tiny packages for long-life, space-constrained IoT nodes

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information without guarantee; prices and availability may change at short notice. No investment advice, no buy or sell recommendation. Stock-market transactions involve risks up to total loss.