subject: Dc-dc Converter Modules And Ics Economic Factors Application Drivers Business Models Packaging [print this page] Topics Covered Include: Topics Covered Include:
Introduction
Application Segment Trends
Evolving Power System Architectures
Advancing Power System Architectures
Number of System Voltage Rails Growing
Converter Choices Multiplying
PsiP, PsoC and Non-Isolated Module Price/Performance
Integrating Magnetics in PsiPs and PsoCs
Impact of Silicon-Carbide and Gallium-Nitride Devices
Packaging and Architecture Trends Are Complementary
Converter Demand Trends
Standards Landscape Is Evolving
Digital Power Management
Implications of Digital Power for the DC-DC Supply Chain
System Designers Perspective on Digital DC-DC Converters
Impact of Trends in Critical Facilities Power Management
Report from the First International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip
Fifth Annual Digital Power Forum
The market for dc-dc converters will continue to grow, but the rate and trajectory of that growth are being altered by numerous factors. In the near term, growth will slow as result of the current economic downturn. However, the impact of todays economic troubles will vary widely from potentially devastating to hardly noticeable, depending on the specific market segment and product category being considered. One of the accomplishments of this current analysis is to identify the varying intensities of these changing economic dynamics. Critical and often subtle longer-term trends are also identified and discussed.
Today is rife with opportunities and dangers for makers of dc-dc converters. The opportunities have narrowed as a result of the current economic downturn. The dangers have increased in the near term. But all the long-term trends continue to play out and the search for growth will intensify. New power architectures are driving the average wattages of isolated converters down. Makers of non-isolated point-of-load (POL) converters are also seeing their value-added opportunities reduced by new system powering architectures. New packaging options are emerging and will impact the opportunities for value-added. The sometimes hidden backdrop for these changes is the emergence and growing importance of various forms of digital power management. This report delves into these changes and identifies the most likely way forward for the dc-dc converter industry.
Throughout this discussion, power conversion efficiencies and digital power management will be lurking in various forms. Early on, the discussion will mention the impact of Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE) becoming a growth driver for the Communications power sector. PoE uses isolated dc-dc converters to replace ac-dc power supplies in various types of network equipment. The high growth of PoE and the associated 15W to 25W isolated dc-dc converters will contrast starkly with the 100W+ isolated dc-dc converters that have up to now dominated the Communications space. In the case of PoE, digital power management takes the form of the identification when PoE-powered devices are connected to the network and the level of power that each device requires.
The emergence of PoE is only one example of changing power architectures and the impact of digital power management on the markets for dc-dc converters. The Power System Management Protocol specification (PMBus), introduced in March, 2005 has recently become the dominant power management protocol for board-mounted dc-dc converters. PMBus is also used for inter-board communications in some rack systems. The need for improved control of todays dynamic power operating environments and the increasingly strident demand for increasing power system efficiencies are primary factors driving the use of digital power manage in general, and PMBus in particular.
Since the bursting of the communications bubble in 2001, this market has been in a constant state of flux. Prior to 2001, isolated dc-dc converters employed in conventional distributed power architectures (DPA) in telecommunications equipment dominated the market. Beginning in 2001, the dominance of isolated converters has been under continual attack, first from the intermediate bus architecture (IBA), and today from the centralized control architecture (CCA). One of the prime factors driving the new power architectures has been the growing number of power rails in a typical piece of electronic equipment. PCs provide a good case study of this trend, with the number of power rails in a PC increasing from 2 in the initial designs to 10 or more today. A typical circuit card in an Ethernet router may have 40 or more different voltage buses, each with its own dc-dc converter. A similar trend is found in every equipment category.
