Insight
Vicor Europe's Quarterly Newsletter
Issue 9 – Autumn 2007
Vicor News
Lead time of standard products reduced
Vicor
manufacturing's programme of continuous improvement now enables Vicor
to significantly reduce the lead times of its standard products to just
four weeks (USA). In addition, Vicor operates a number of delivery
options that enable some products to be delivered even quicker:
Prototype Express For many of Vicor’s standard modules and configurable power supplies, customers may order prototypes quantities (less than 10 pieces per line) and have them delivered in as little as two weeks (USA), dependent on the product and the environmental grade.
Power Express is available if you need a production order delivered in less than the standard lead times. This program operates by special request only, through your European distributor. They will check with us our ability to provide the commitment to meet the requested delivery date before the order is placed. Vicor reserves the right to charge a price premium for these requests.
To find out more about our lead times contact your local Vicor office
top »A guide to Vicor’s unique online power supply design and selector tools: PowerBench
Vicor’s PowerBench offers
designers the capability to design online a power module or complete power
supply to meet their exact requirements. What makes this unique is that
these custom products are manufactured on the same manufacturing line,
using the same components and manufacturing processes as our standard
products. This gives the power supply designer a custom part with the
quality, price and delivery assurances they would expect from a standard
product.
In fact, PowerBench is the umbrella for a suite of packages: in addition to the custom design packages mentioned there are a number of tools to help designers choose and configure the solution that is right for their applications, all of which are described below.
Custom power configurators
Maxi, Mini, Micro Series Configurator (CMDS) provides users with the ability to design one of Vicor’s high density power modules to fit exactly their requirements within stated parameters. CMDS also provides users with an easy-to-use product selector tool for all standard products within the product range and access to the library of custom products already created.
VIPAC configurator tool (VCAD) provides access to the specification of Vicor’s high-density, ultra-low profile (just 19mm) configurable power solutions – the VIPAC product families – available as either an ac-dc or a dc-dc product, with power up to 900 W.
The Westcor Power System Configurator Tool (VSPOC) allows a user to configure a complete ac-dc fan-cooled power supply to their specifications. With up to 20 outputs, a wide range of power choices up to 4,000 W and a number of other options (including PFC) available, this tool provides easy access to a wide range of power solutions.
Accessing non-standard products
Many custom products have already been designed by customers. Through the CMDS tool a user can now search through and order these designs if it is appropriate to their own application, configuring with standard grade, pin, baseplate and RoHS options. As with other CMDS-generated parts, these are produced on our standard manufacturing line. But, because we have had experience of this particular design, we can charge a nominal setup fee for these products, rather than CMDS’s usual NRE, and can deliver the products in the standard lead times.
Configurator tools for standard products
With the largest range of products in the industry, one of our standard products may be suitable for your application. The configurators allow the user to select the most appropriate from the thousands that are available from each product range:
- VI-200/J00 / MI-200/J00 Configurator helps designers select dc-dc converter modules in this product range, a particularly useful addition to the suite of tools with a product range that numbers over 10,000 standard products.
- Chassis-mount MegaMods Family Configurator Tool helps users select the most appropriate chassis-mounted packaging option, incorporating one, two or three of VI-J200 / VI-J00 products.
- The ComPAC and FlatPAC Configurator Tools allow users to specify either ac-dc or dc-dc power systems with multiple outputs and power levels from 50 to 600 W. As both power systems are based on the broad range of our VI-200/J00 product families, these are useful tools to explore the myriad of available options.
Further information
If you wish to try designing your own power supply – and create your own My Designs account – immediately, go to vicoreurope.com/technical-support/powerbench.
For purposes of clarity we split the design and selection of our broad range of products into a number of different tools. However, if you do not find what you want in one tool, please contact our technical support team, who will be happy to assist you in finding the best solution for your application.
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Product News
New off-line, high-density V•I Chip™ bus converter
Vicor has launched a high-voltage V•I Chip bus converter with a power density of greater than 1000 W/in³ (part number B384F120T30). This BCM™ module is a high-efficiency (>95%), Sine Amplitude Converter™ (SAC) operating from a 360-400 Vdc (384 Vnominal) primary bus to deliver an isolated low voltage secondary.
The 12 V (nominal) output can be paralleled for high current outputs or connected in series to create a 48 Vbus, making the converter ideal for use in high performance server and telecom ac-dc SMPS and enabling major power density improvements in the post-PFC dc-dc stage. The BCM converter may also be used in high-power, high-efficiency data center applications to power individual cards or blades directly from the HV distribution bus.
The V•I Chip package – measuring just 32.5 x 22 x 6.6 mm – is compatible with standard pick-and-place surface-mount machinery and assembly processes. It provides flexible thermal management through its low junction-to-case and junction-to-board thermal resistance. The low impedance of the BCM converter enables POL capacitance minimisation or elimination while the positive temperature coefficient of the output means that converters share simply and reliably with no interconnect circuitry; all resulting in savings of board area, materials, and total system cost.
New 1.2 kW demo boards are now available to enable designers to experience the high performance and flexibility of the 300 W BCM converters in many application systems.
Useful links:
- Datasheet for B384F120T30
- Datasheet for BCM evaluation board
- Whole Family BCM short form
- Whole Family PRM + VTM short form
- White paper: Overview of Factorized Power Architecture and V•I Chips
- Datasheets for the V•I Chip range of products
Novel Applications
Optimising processing real estate
The drive to create metadata processing server systems plus the parallel push for increased port density and triple-play (voice / video / internet) traffic handling in telecommunication systems places greater demands on power management architectures.
The problem: inefficient power architectures
Traditional designs using AC to 12 Vdc Silver Box followed by 12 V to 1.x Vsynch buck have run aground in terms of system power density and efficiency due to a combination of distribution bus losses and fundamental restrictions in topology performance as processor voltages reach sub-volt levels. Higher voltage (48 V or 350/380 V) bus voltages reduce distribution losses, but usually mean the addition of an extra stage or stages to get down to the processor voltages, which add size and may lower conversion efficiencies.
A new approach is necessary to optimise processing real estate while minimising the area used for power delivery in next generation systems.
The Solution: Factorized Power Architecture (FPA)
Follow this link to read the full white paper on this topic, Enabling Next Generation High Density Power Conversion, which was presented at the IBM Symposium.
Torpedo Control System
Torpedos
are very demanding applications, requiring very reliable and rugged components
(including the power supply). Their shape and size also mean that the
space left for the power supply element can be very small and the wrong
shape to fit a standard box solution!
This particular customer operates in the defence and large systems electronics sectors, in particular in the underwater systems field. One of their most successful applications is a heavy-weight torpedo used as a multipurpose weapon designed to be launched by submarines or surface vessels.
The customer required a complete, non-standard input power supply solution, something that one of Vicor’s value added resellers (VARs) could provide based on one of Vicor’s non-standard products, quickly and cost effectively.
Using custom Mini and Micro DC-DC converters designed using Vicor’s PowerBench tools, the VAR designed a VME semi-custom, ruggedised solution with a special input of 150-300 VDC giving +12 Vout @4 A, -12 Vout @4 A, +5 Vout @30 A and + 28 Vout @6 A.
These particular Vicor products were ideal for this application thanks to their high reliability, ease of use and complete modularity, which allows the creation of different power supplies with different outputs, using the same modules.
Last, but not least, these DC-DC converters already meet the necessary Military standards: NQ93A0001, MIL-HDBK-454, MIL-STD1472, MIL-STD-461D, IEEESTD1101.2-1992 and MIL-HDBK-472.
For more examples of VAR-designed power supplies for other applications click here.
top »New from Vicor
Web redesign for easier access
Vicor’s international web sites (including vicoreurope.com) have been redesigned to make them easier to use – and ultimately easier to find the information that you need.
Key changes that have helped improve usability and functionality, include:
- New quick and easy-to-access navigation throughout the new site via pull-down menus
- Redesign to ensure that fewer clicks are necessary to get anywhere on the site
- Product categories have been restructured to improve access and ease of navigation
- The Product Selector is on every page, as is access to key technical resources such as datasheets and application notes
- Access to the PowerBench is prominent throughout the entire site
- All of the product pages have been reformatted for better presentation of the information and access to other areas of the website
- The datasheet section has been restructured to group datasheets by the main product categories
If you have any feedback on the new site’s layout and content, please contact us at .
New updated design guides now available
Updated design guide and application manuals for our families of dc-dc converters have been developed and updated to ensure that they are easy to use and contain the most comprehensive and relevant information to help engineers design with our products:
- Design Guide & Applications Manual for Maxi, Mini, Micro Family DC-DC Converters and Accessory Modules
- Design Guide & Applications Manual for VI-200 and VI-J00 Family DC-DC Converters and Accessory Modules
Topics include high-density dc-dc converter technology, control pin functions, EMC considerations, current sharing in power arrays, and improved thermal performance information. Design and application information has also been added to cover, for example, modular accessories for autoranging rectification, MIL-COTS filter input attenuation, output ripple attenuation, and modular ac front-end systems. Other useful topics – such as new recommended soldering methods for tin lead pins and lead-free pins (RoHS) and socketing systems for surface mount and through-hole – are now included.
top »Inside Vicor
Vicor VARs: meeting complete custom power supply requirements
While Vicor remains focused on the design and manufacture of advanced power components and configurable total solutions, Vicor’s value-added resellers (VARs) provide design and manufacturing support for users who rely on outside resources for their custom power requirements.
Custom design and manufacturing services
VARs work in partnership with Vicor and its distributors as part of a network that puts custom power solutions within easy reach of customers, enabling the close working relationship required to fulfil project demands effectively.
Combining the component approach to power system design, and the resources and teamwork provided by the Vicor and distributor partnership, VARs are able to offer an unprecedented level of service.
VARs cut the time and expense of developing a custom power solution by using standard, high density DC-DC converters and other modular components. Particularly now that the VARs have access to Vicor’s PowerBench for the design of custom modules. The remaining effort quickly shifts to the mechanical, electrical and thermal design elements required to integrate the component-based system into the users’ individual application.
Each new power system design offers the predictable, reliable performance of field-proven technology assured by component power at the heart of the system. This is supported by over 20 years of proven reliability and the experience of more than 20 million units in diverse applications worldwide.
This approach to VAR projects also allows quick response to changing power requirements as the product design evolves, and simplifies and speeds manufacturing once volume production begins. The end product is a highly functional economical power system with a streamlined development cycle that minimises time to market and reduces risk.
A selection of just a few of the many successful custom power supplies produced by our VARs using Vicor products can be found on our web site.
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