Ericsson Introduces Surface Mount Version of Digital DC-DC Converter
Based on the company’s BMR453 dc-dc converter, Ericsson Power Modules introduced its BMR453 SI version which adds the company’s Floating Inserted Pins (FIP) technology to offer a surface mount version that enables higher density boards to be designed and used.
Because board density is increasing, and to simplify manufacturing processes, board designers are requiring power modules suppliers to offer surface mount alternatives to conventional through-hole versions. This is not generally a problem at low and mid-power levels, but it is a real challenge when considering high power modules and even more of a challenge when such modules require additional I/O. That is the challenge that Ericsson Power Modules addressed when developing its mechanical FIP concept.
Ericsson’ FIP concept is based on highly accurately tooled pins that are inserted and aligned during the original assembly process. When a BMR453-SI module is assembled on the final board, during reflow the pins remain aligned in the plated through-hole of the converter, and self-adjust to guarantee perfect interconnection between the two solder pads. The pins are also manufactured with very tight tolerances, guaranteeing co-planarity and mechanical accuracy. This process ensures high reliability and host equipment availability.
In addition to input and output power connections, additional I/O (+ and - output remote sense, address pin, PMBus clock and data, power good and user configurable I/O, PMBus ground, PMBus alert signal and PMBus remote control or current sharing) are made available through a micro-interface. This connector has been designed to comply with Ericsson FIP technology and to guarantee full alignment and co-planarity during the different soldering processes.
Since its introduction, the BMR453 has received a high level of market interest and when considering ways to reduce energy consumption and attain better energy control at board level, many systems architects now consider the BMR453 to be a key contributor to their energy-saving projects, resulting in a large numbers of applications that are now entering into volume production.
"A customers’ design cycle when using a new board mounted power module in the ICT industry – especially when introducing such high level of features - is about two years, and our customers are now moving to volume manufacturing and requiring access to conventional and surface mountable version of our BMR453" said Patrick Le Fèvre, Marketing and Communication Director of Ericsson Power Modules. "The addition of a surface mountable version to Ericsson’s ’world-first’ digitally controlled and PMBus compliant BMR453 dc-dc converter reflects the huge market interest for such products and also the technology that will contribute to reduce energy consumption."
Based on a digital control loop and including a PMBus interface, the BMR453 SI is the first surface mount isolated dc-dc converter to make it possible for system architects to precisely monitor, control and adjust parameters in real time. Through a board power manager or a PMBus interface embedded into the board controller, system architects can precisely adjust the intermediate bus voltage to suit load conditions but also to read back data from the BMR453 giving information about load, temperature, voltage and other parameters indicating boards’ status, making it possible to pro-actively decide what action to take. As well, the built-in digital control loop self-optimizes switching dead time, guaranteeing that dc-dc power consumption remains the lowest whatever the load condition is, resulting in high efficiency from low load to full load condition.
With 96% efficiency, the BMR453 SI offers up to 396W output power or up to 33A with ±2% accuracy. Showing versatility, the BMR453 has an input voltage range of 36V to 75V, and its output voltage is variable from 8.1V to 13.2V. With a maximum height of 11.5mm, the BMR453 SI is compatible with reduced board-space applications or cold-wall equipments requiring low height.
BMR453 SI’s micro controller sweeps up a large quantity of discrete control and overhead components resulting in better integration, lower component count, less PCB area, and improved reliability. The net result for the customer is gains in virtually all areas; increased power density, greater accuracy, a much higher level of control and integration within a system, and reduced through life cost of ownership as a result of its high efficiency and intelligent use of energy management.
The price of the BMR453 SI in OEM quantities will be $52.25.
