Astec Debuts Sixteenth Brick

Astec Power has introduced the first "sixteenth-brick" isolated converter. At 1.65 inches (41.9mm) long by 0.8 inches (20.3mm) wide with a 0.33-inch (8.3mm) profile, the new 50-Watt ALX series preserves the same quarter-brick and eighth-brick pin location assignments but with reduced length (input to output pin separation) while maintaining the same functionality. More than a third smaller than a typical eighth-brick converter, the single-output ALX models pack 15 to 20Amps of output current in a surface-mount package.

The ALX series operates from a 36V to 75V input bus voltage and delivers up to 20A of current from the 1.8V and 1.2V models, 18A from the 2.5V and 15A from the 3.3V units. This results in a power density of 114 Watts per cubic inch. The ALX series offers efficiencies as high as 88 percent for the 1.8V model with derating at elevated ambient temperatures.

Equipped with industry standard features, the ALX series includes over voltage (OVP), over current (OCP) and over temperature protection. It also incorporates under voltage lockout with hysteresis as well as an output trim pin and an enable pin with positive or negative logic controls. The ALX models also provide basic insulation from input to output and boast a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of more than one million hours.

Mechanically, the new devices have pin functions that are identical to standard eighth-brick converters with the dimension between input and output pins reduced by 25 percent. This provides flexibility by allowing designers to layout boards that will accommodate standard quarter-brick and eighth-brick devices as well as the new ALX sixteenth-brick.

ALX models are priced from $40.75 in OEM quantities. Samples of the 1.8V models are available now. Models with 3.3V, 2.5V and 1.2V output are scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2003.