EDNE September 2012 - (Page 8)

pulse INNOVATIONS & INNOVATORS Point-of-load converters drop 1V from 36V, maintain efficiency V icor’s Picor PI33XX Cool-Power time, and has not benefited from zero-volt- output voltages from 1V to 16V and outZVS DC-DC buck regulator series is age switching (ZVS) techniques used else- put current up to 10A for power delivery the latest addition to the company’s where. In the relatively simple non-isolated up to 120W. You can interleave up to six range of highly integrated power conversion buck topology it has been difficult to justify PI33XX buck regulators using single wire functional blocks. It is a non-isolated point- the extra cost and complexity of ZVS con- current sharing without any additional comof-load buck converter using zero-voltage trol, the company suggests. Vicor’s control ponents. switching that maintains efficiency even architecture, by adding additional switching The ZVS topology enables high-frequenwhen supplying a low regulated voltage rail around the output inductor, stores a small cy operation, up to 2 MHz, in which the lossfrom a supply that is very much larger; the amount of energy on each switching cycle es associated with conventional buck reghighest input voltage that the first release that is used to lift the centre node of the ulators that use hard-switching topologies of parts can accept is 36V. You can achieve high-side/low-side output switching device are minimised. You need only a small – 100 higher levels of power density in a power pair, to close to the input voltage rail level, to 200 nH – inductor and multi-layer cedistribution architecture than has ramic output capacitors. The device previously been possible, and has a wide loop bandwidth (count with peak efficiency up to 98%. on 10% of the switching frequency, You can distribute power to a Vicor says) and good transient reboard at a higher voltage than sponse, and is internally compenyou would previously have done, sated for stability, with a single pole from an isolated and semi-reguin its frequency response. Output lated converter, reducing resisregulation is +/- 1.5% over -40 to tive losses in board traces and 125C, or 1% over a smaller temperpower planes. Using the PI33XX ature range. It has a 20 nsec minidevices, you might then supply mum on-time and pulse-skipping caprocessors and other loads at low pability to support large step-down voltage, direct from that higher ratios. Picor PI33XX Cool-Power rail. As with other recent Vicor ZVS buck regulators also have opintroductions, the company says tional I2C extended fault telemetry that you should regard conver- Reduced switching losses enable up to 98% peak efficiency capability allowing for six distinct sion, isolation and regulation as and high frequency operation up to 36 Vin. types of fault reporting. Additional separate functions that you can device-programmable I2C features place along the power distribution chain, to minimise switching losses and transients include margining, enable pin logic polarity, aiming to optimise circuit losses, distribu- through each switching point. and phase delay. tion losses and cost as best fits every indiThe result is a package integrating conThe first six devices span 1.0 to 15V outvidual design. trol circuitry, power semiconductors and put values at 8 or 10A and will cost $12.85 Vicor asserts that the non-isolated support components in a high density 10 (1000). switching buck converter – from multiple x 14 x 2.56 mm LGA System in Package —by Graham Prophet suppliers – has remained relatively static (SiP). PI33XX buck regulators can convert Vicor/Picor, in terms of its basic architecture for some input supplies ranging from 8 V to 36 V to www.vicorpower.com 8 EDN EUROPE | SEPTEMBER 2012 www.edn-europe.com http://www.vicorpower.com http://www.edn-europe.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of EDNE September 2012

Cover
Contents
International Rectifier
Microchip
RS Components
Masthead
Microchip
EDN Comment
Pulse
Analog Devices
Altera
Baker's best
Messe München
Test & Measurement World
Agilent Techno
Digi-key
Bergquist
Advanced power switches boost microhybrid emissions gains
Digi-Key
Image sensors evolve to address Emerging embedded- vision needs
Renesas
Silicon Labs
Digi-Key
Vicor
Power becomes a software issue as smart phones become smarter
IAN
Power : a significant challenge in EDA design
Digi-Key
Mechatronics in Desin
Design Ideas
Product roundup
Tales from the Cube

EDNE September 2012