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HDP User Group Launches Application Guidelines for Board Mounted Power Supplies

March 27, 2007 by Jeff Shepard

The High Density Packaging (HDP) User Group announced the launch of what is claimed to be industry’s first Board Mounted Power Supply (BMPS) Application Guidelines. The 148-page document is designed to support the communications and electronics manufacturing industry by promoting understanding of BMPS products.

Originally started as a project within the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) in 2002, the activity was incorporated into an HDP User Group Project in 2005. Since then major users and manufacturers of BMPS products, have worked to define the market’s requirements with respect to such products and to communicate manufacturers’ capabilities for meeting these requirements. The BMPS Application Guidelines document is the result of their efforts.

Contributors to the document include Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, International Rectifier, NetPower Technologies, TDK Innoveta, Siemens Networks and Tyco Electronics. The document is endorsed by users and systems integrators including Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Intel Corp., Juniper Networks, Siemens Networks, and supported by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA), the European Power Supply Manufacturers Association (EPSMA), Artesyn Technologies (Emerson), and TI (PowerTrends).

"The introduction of the BMPS Application Guidelines will help our member companies to communicate, for example, reliability requirements and various impacts of design decisions. It will also help designers and users of board mounted power supplies to better understand and use these products," stated Marshall Andrews, Executive Director of the HDP User Group.

"We’re happy to see this project, originated by the PSMA, come to a successful conclusion and we’re eager to see it being adopted by the industry," stated Bruce Miller, PSMA Chairman.

The document is claimed to be the first for this industry and by far the most comprehensive of its kind, covering everything from basic topologies, power architectures, and reliability to today’s most topical issues, like digital power and energy savings. The BMPS Application Guidelines document is available on the HDP User Group web site. It is free to members of HDP User Group and to contributing BMPS manufacturers, and will be priced at US$2,500 to the public.