Each year, PowerPulse provides readers extensive coverage of important industry events, spanning the globe from Asia to Europe and North America, including the IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference, PCIM Europe, Solar Power International, Techno Frontier Japan and electronica. The coverage typically starts running in advance of the event and continues with wrap-up stories after the event has concluded. The following are the ten most-read stories from IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference 2016:
#10: Infineon enables High-Performance FPGA Development Platform
Infineon Technologies AG today announced that its digital point-of-load (PoL) dc-dc regulators with full PMBus capabilities are featured in the Kintex® UltraScale™ development board. A key driver for the design flexibility of the board is the superior PMBus connectivity of the IR3806x family. Configurations can be stored in internal memory. In addition, PMBus commands allow run-time control, fault status and telemetry. More.
#9: 1-2W Medical DC-DC Converters
Mornsun released new 1W and 2W DG/H series dc-dc converters during this weeks' IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC 2016). These dc-dc converters are designed for medical systems, which need to meet standard EN60601-1 and ANSI/AAMI ES60601-1 3rd Edition (1xMOPP/2xMOOP). The converters deliver full-rated power over the temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C. More.
#8: Digital Hybrid PWM Controllers with PMBus
Intersil Corporation announced two new PMBusâ„¢ compatible, single-phase digital hybrid dc-dc controllers that provide point-of-load (POL) conversions for FPGAs, DSPs, ASICs, processors and general purpose system rails. The ISL68200 with integrated MOSFET drivers and ISL68201 with pwm output simplify power supply designs for data center routers, servers and storage, as well as wireless infrastructure equipment. The ISL68200 can drive external MOSFETs directly, while the ISL68201 is paired with Intersil's DrMOS (Integrated Driver and MOSFET) power stage to create a complete voltage regulator solution. The ISL68200/01 will be demonstrated with PowerNavigatorâ„¢ software in Intersil's booth #2117 at the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Expo (APEC) in Long Beach, Calif., March 21-23. More.
#7: 1200V SiC Diode for Rugged High-Frequency Inverters
Fairchild released its first 1200V silicon carbide (SiC) diode, the FFSH40120ADN, in its series of upcoming SiC solutions. The 1200V diode's combination of superior switching performance, higher reliability and low electromagnetic interference (EMI) make it well-suited for next-generation solar inverters, industrial motor controls and welders which are all increasingly required to be more energy efficient at higher power densities. More.
#6: Probes Measure High Frequency Motor Drive Common-Mode Currents
Motor installers and design engineers can deal more effectively with high frequency (HF) common-mode currents caused by variable-frequency drives, using the latest non-contact current probes announced by Power Electronic Measurements Ltd. (PEM) at the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC 2016). More.
#5: Software Self-Diagnoses Server Power Supply Replacement
Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. has developed a self-diagnostic technology to determine when a power supply unit needs to be replaced. This is software that can run on board the microcontroller of a digitally-controlled power supply, such as those used in servers and other information and communication technology (ICT) devices. Details of this technology were presented at this week's Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition 2016 (APEC 2016). Fujitsu is aiming for a commercial launch of the technology in 2018. More.
#4: 650V GaN FET with 41mOhms On-Resistance in a TO-247
Transphorm Inc. introduced the TPH3207WS GaN field effect transistor (FET) with the lowest on-resistance (41mΩ) in a TO-247 package that reduces system volume as much as 50% without sacrificing efficiency. The device's low Rds(on) and ultra-low Qrr (175nC) bring the benefits of GaN to applications that previously relied on silicon, enabling engineers to achieve power-dense solutions with reduced component count and improved reliability in high-voltage power conversion applications. More.
#3: Load Switches Extend Battery Life in Wearable Applications
At the close of last week's IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC 2016), GLF Integrated Power, Inc. announced the mass market release of the first product in its IQSmart™ line of high-performance load switches. The GLF71311 load switch claims these best-in-class features: an off-state leakage current (ISD) of 5nA, typical, at 3.3Vin; a logic operating current (IQ) of less than 10nA, typical, up to 5.5V; and an on-state resistance of 34mOhms, max, at 5.5V and 41mOhms (maximum) at 3.3V. Add to this a tiny 0.97 by 0.97mm form factor, and designers now have an ultra-efficient alternative for improving power efficiency in their wearables, mobile medical devices and other battery-powered devices that is significantly better than competing load switches – and dramatically better than using discrete devices. More.
#2: Integration of 650V GaN FETs with Drive and Logic
Navitas Semiconductor announced the world's first Gallium Nitride (GaN) Power ICs, using its proprietary AllGaNâ„¢ monolithically-integrated 650V platform. Combining GaN power FETs with GaN logic and drive circuits enables 10x to 100x higher switching frequencies than existing silicon circuits, enabling smaller, lighter power electronics at lower cost. Navitas expects to enable a new generation of high frequency, energy efficient converters for smartphone and laptop chargers, OLED TVs, LED lighting, solar inverters, wireless charging devices and datacenters. More.
#1: Thermal FOM for Chip-Scale Packaged GaN Transistors
With power converters demanding higher power density, transistors must be accommodated in an ever decreasing board space. Beyond GaN-based power transistors' ability to improve electrical efficiency, they must also be more thermally efficient. A paper titled, "Thermal Evaluation of Chip-Scale Packaged Gallium Nitride Transistors" by David Reusch, Johan Strydom, and Alex Lidow with Efficient Power Conversion Corporation and presented at this week's IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference, evaluated the thermal performance of chip-scale packaged enhancement-mode GaN field effect transistors (eGaN® FETs) and compared their in-circuit electrical and thermal performance with state-of-art silicon MOSFETs. The paper concluded with the proposal of a thermal figure of merit (FOM) for designers to use as a tool to quickly compare the thermal efficiency of device packaging technologies. More.
