PowerLines by Linnea Brush

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Two examples of the digital wave of the future are recent product announcements from Ericsson and Powervation. The former exemplifies the large, long-standing power supply company. The latter represents the smaller, entrepreneurial power supply company. In other words, both sides of the house are coming to the market with products that veer from a simple “search for analog and replace with digital” model.

Ericsson introduced the 30A Power Block, which addresses “the emerging technology in power distribution and management called Centralized Control Architecture (CCA).” System architects are requiring suppliers to offer solutions that address multiple rails (sometimes up to 150). The CCA is a “natural evolution of the intermediate bus architecture,” according to the company. The Power Block is also very much related to the control IC, which is digital. The CCA is a totally new architecture based on the requirements of digital power management in systems. Digital control is no longer simply “an option.”

Whereas Ericsson’s product is based on an emerging architecture, Powervation’s product is based on the emerging functions that digital has always promised – and which could “kill” analog in certain applications. The PV3002 chip is the industry’s “first” digital power conversion IC with adaptive control – what the company calls “Auto-control™.” It is claimed to be the first product to “reliably adapt power conversion to changing system behavior and unpredictable variations,” guaranteeing “unprecedented stability over a wide range of conditions.”

This is a game changer, with one company saying that Powervation’s solution could eliminate functions like “tunable loops and others” used in analog point-of-load converters. Powervation claims that their new IC enables digital power management “at no extra cost” at the system level. When applications require functions that can’t be provided by analog, and the digital solution is at the same price point (or less) as analog, then the digital divide has been crossed and is rapidly closing.

Some companies don’t seem aware of this – they may have digital products, but they downplay their role in the broader market. They see themselves as “minor players” when up against the larger power supply companies, or they don’t consider “digital” to be their main focus. This is short-sighted. “Digital” has expanded beyond controller ICs and digitally controlled power supplies. There are now advanced components and technologies that are enabling digital solutions – many of which are not specifically digital. For example, DrMOS, silicon-carbide and gallium-nitride are reaching a point in their development where they are helping digital cross the divide.

It’s still premature to predict how much digital control will penetrate the power supply market. But the tables are turning, and it is now more accurate to say, “As long as analog solutions are viable…” Digital has come into its own, and the balance will be shifting significantly over the next five years.

More Information on the Web:

Digital Power Forum
Digital Power Electronics: Market Trends, Power Architectures and Commercial Adoption, Third Edition

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We would like to hear your comments on the topics discussed in this column. Please email them to Linnea Brush at linnea@darnell.com. We welcome the opportunity to publish opposing opinions. Please email Jeff Shepard at jshepard@darnell.com.

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Primitive batteries capable of producing ½ volt of electricity were made in Mesopotamia between around 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. They were used mainly for electroplating silver onto copper.