New Industry Products

Ericsson DC-DC Converters Extend Utilization of Board-to-Board Technique

May 15, 2007 by Jeff Shepard

Ericsson Power Modules has introduced three PKD-E products: the PKD4218LE SI providing 1.2V at 20A, the PKD4218HE SI providing 1.5V at 14A, and the 3.3V at 15A-rated PKD4510E SI. The company states that the products are aimed at existing PKD customers seeking cost-optimization programs, low building height applications requiring surface-mount dc-dc modules, and applications requiring fast time-to-market and a reliable power source.

Mostly targeting the telecom and datacom (router, servers, interface) industries, the PKD-E series also addresses a wide range of applications – such as process control – that use 48V distributed power architectures. The product is chiefly driven by cost-reduction programs, and by customers concerned with reducing the overall energy consumption and environmental impact of their businesses.

Using the single-side components mounting and board-to-board techniques, PKD-E is said to offer a cost saving of 15-20% compared to the original PKD. Combining the synchronous rectification topology and identical components used in the original PKD and PKM-E series, the PKD-E is claimed to have a high efficiency that reduces heat and component stress. This results in an MTBF greater than 1.7 million hours. Because PKD-E is fully interoperable (mechanically and electrically) with the original PKD, customers already using PKD can easily implement PKD-E when developing new applications or reducing cost on existing systems. For versatility, PKD-E’s low profile of just 7.7mm enables its use in compact systems. The PKD-E series products comply with the European RoHS directive and meet the requirements of high temperature, lead-free, and reflow soldering processes.

The board-to-board technology introduced by Ericsson Power Modules in the BMP (board-mounted product) segment is said to be an important step when it is necessary to comply with cost efficiency without compromising other parameters. By simplifying the building practice, and using lower thermodynamic sub-assemblies, the PKD-E requires less energy during its manufacturing process and when being assembled into the customer’s host equipment.