Artesyn Technologies (Boca Raton, FL) has launched eight new vertical mount non-isolated point-of-load dc-dc converters designed specifically for applications where board space is at an absolute premium. The new PTV series converters are fully compatible with POLA (Point-of-Load Alliance) standards. The smallest model in the series, the PTV03010, is a 3.3Vin, 8A output unit that takes up only 0.3 square inches of PCB real estate.
PTV series point-of-load (POL) converters occupy significantly less board space than their PTH series horizontal mount counterparts. The PTV03020, for example, is a 3.3 Vin, 18A output unit with a 0.6 square inch footprint; less than half that of its nearest horizontal mount equivalent. As well as freeing up valuable board space, these very small dimensions make it easier for designers to place the converters next to the devices they are powering, to maximize performance.
All Artesyn PTV and PTH series POL converters feature Auto-Track™ power sequencing, enabling multiple converters to track each other, or an external voltage, during power-up and power-down. This built-in functionality provides electronics designers with a technically elegant means of powering advanced silicon devices such as DSPs, FPGAs and ASICs, which often require a number of different voltage supplies to be applied and removed in a specific, carefully controlled sequence.
The converters also have a pre-bias start-up capability, enabling them to be used in situations where feed-through from a multi-rail device might cause a voltage to be present on the converter output during power-up.
Artesyn's PTV series POL converters offer OEMs a number of choices to help simplify board level design. They are available with current outputs of 8, 16 and 18 A, and with nominal input voltages of 3.3, 5 or 12 V, to suit the designer's choice of intermediate bus voltage. The converters also feature widely adjustable output voltages, enabling them to satisfy virtually all the supply requirements of low voltage silicon. The 3.3 V input PTV030xx's can have their outputs set to any voltage from 0.8 Vdc to 2.5 Vdc; the 5V input PTV050xx's have a 0.8-3.6 Vdc output range; and the 12V input PTV120xx's have a 1.2-5.5 Vdc output range. The 12V input PTV050xx's are also available with a 0.8-1.2 Vdc output range, for use with very low voltage silicon.
The 12 V input models are well suited for use within intermediate bus architecture (IBA) applications where higher power solutions are required, and are compatible with Artesyn's recently released IBC25A 300 W eighth-brick intermediate bus converters. Furthermore, the POL converters' sequencing capabilities mean that designers can now implement complex distributed power schemes without having to use multiple isolated bricks or external circuitry to provide the sequencing functions, thereby achieving significant savings in development time and cost.
The PTV series comprises two categories of non-isolated POL converters (determined primarily by output current capability and physical size), each of which contains a number of models covering the nominal input voltage values of 3.3, 5 and 12 V. PTVxx010 converters measure just 0.90 x 0.33 inches (22.9 x 8.4 mm), have an installed height of 0.4 in (10.2 mm) and are capable of providing up to 8A output current, with conversion efficiencies as high as 94%. The higher power PTVxx020 converters measure 1.75 x 0.37 inches (44.4 x 9.4 mm), have a height of 0.5 in (12.7 mm) and include models with an 18A output capability.
Pricing for 10,000-piece quantities starts at $6.50 for the PTV03010WAH, which is an 8A POL converter, rising only to $11.00 for the PTV05020WAH POL converter, which has an 18A output capability. The standard lead-time is stock to 6-8 weeks.
