EPC9143 DC/DC converter board for high-density computing

17th July 2020

Alex Lynn

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EPC has announced the availability of the EPC9143, a 300W DC/DC voltage regulator in 16th brick size. The EPC9143 power module integrates Microchip’s dsPIC33CK digital signal controller (DSC) with the latest generation EPC2053 eGaN FETs from EPC to achieve 96% efficiency in a 48V input to 12V output conversion at 25A.

The switching frequency of 500kHz enables the 300W in the very small 16th brick format which is just 33x22.9mm. Additional phases can be added to this scalable two-phase design to further increase power. The flexibility of the Microchip digital controllers allows the input voltage to be adjusted from eight to 72V and the output voltage from 3.3 to 25V.

Brick DC/DC converters are widely used in data centre, telecommunication and automotive applications, converting a nominal 48V to a nominal 12V distribution bus among other output voltages. The main trend has been towards higher power density given the form factor is fixed. A main application is high density 48V to 12V point-of-load (POL) converters, where a regulated 12V output voltage is required, like those used for commodity PCIe cards and storage.

eGaN FETs and integrated circuits provide the fast switching, small size and low cost that can meet the stringent power density requirements of these leading-edge applications with low component count and solution cost.

“Advanced computing applications are putting higher demands on power converters, and silicon-based power conversion is not keeping pace,” said Alex Lidow, CEO of EPC. “We are delighted to work with Microchip, a leader in this space, to provide customers with a flexible solution to increase the efficiency, increase power density, and reduce system cost for 48 V power conversion.”

“Microchip’s dsPIC DSCs can be programmed to fully exploit the high performance of GaN FETs,” added Joe Thomsen, VP of Microchip’s MCU16 business unit. “We are proud to work alongside EPC to provide our customers this GaN-based reference design. The combination of EPC’s GaN technology and our dsPIC33CK controllers will offer engineers the ability to significantly increase power density to meet the demanding requirements of advanced computing and telecom applications.”

The EPC9143 demonstration board is priced $378.00 each and is available for immediate delivery from Digi-Key.