Astec Power Intros New APC12 DC/DC Converters

Astec Power (Carlsbad, CA) expanded its popular APC - Centauri surface-mount product line to include a series of 40W, point-of-load (POL), dc/dc converters. Because of the competitive cost and compact size, the new APC12 models can economically replace discrete designs while using less board space and minimizing the time-to-market for DSP and ASIC applications.

Available in 14 different input/output configurations, the new APC12 models deliver 12A of regulated power with efficiency as high as 92 percent. The devices feature an industry-standard SMT footprint. At only 1.3in x 0.63in x 0.37in (33.02mm x 16mm x 9.34mm), the devices are sized for use with the most restrictive space requirements and can easily serve as a drop-in replacement for existing APC08 applications that have increased power requirements.

The versatile single-output APC12 Series includes models with a dc input of either 1.8V to 6V or 5V to 13V and a selection of six programmable dc output voltages from 0.9V to 3.3V. With the wide input-voltage ranges and options such as output-voltage adjustability, active current sharing between paralleled units, and output status indication capabilities, the flexible devices are well-suited for a variety of POL applications. Each unit has its own enable pin to allow for sequential activation. Additionally, every unit has built-in over-current and over-temperature protection, with auto-recovery from any protective shutdown once a fault is removed.

The wide operating temperature range of –40°C to +85°C makes the APC Series suitable for use in extreme environments and for applications such as data and telecommunications. The devices are also well suited for instrumentation, Internet-working devices such as hubs and routers, automatic test and measurement equipment, and anywhere that rapid time-to-market is a priority.

Priced from $14.50 in OEM quantities, samples are available now.