Sector News

10V GaN FETs are enhanced for DC/DC conversion

Thu, Apr 04, 2019

A fourth eGaN FET joins the range available from Efficient Power Conversion (EPC). The 100V, 3.8 mOhm EPC2053 eGaN FET, joins the EPC2045, EPC2052, and EPC2051. EPC says that its 100V family of GaN transistors are more efficient, smaller, and lower cost for high performance 48V DC/DC conversion.

The EPC2045 (7 mOhm, 100V), EPC2052 (13.5 mOhm, 100V) and EPC2051 (25 mOhm, 100V) FETs are suitable for a range of power levels and price points to meet the increasing demands of 48V server, 48V automotive, and 54V data centre applications. Other applications for the 100V family include single-stage 48V to load open rack server architectures, USB-C, precision motor drives, LED lighting, and lidar, says EPC.

Performance advantages gained from GaN in 48V IN conversion can be exploited in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and advanced high-performance motor drives. Automotive systems are also moving from 12V distribution systems to 48V systems to support the emergence of autonomous vehicles with lidar, radar, camera, and ultrasonic sensors. “Our new family of 100V products demonstrate that in all 48V topologies, the highest efficiency and lowest cost is achieved with GaN FETs and ICs,” said Alex Lidow, co-founder and CEO at EPC.

In all the topologies with 48 VIN, the highest efficiency is obtained using GaN devices due to their lower capacitance and smaller size, claims EPC. Recent price drops in GaN power transistors mean that cost comparison with equivalent silicon-based converters favours the use of GaN devices, according to the company.

Achieving as high as 97 per cent efficiency, the 100V eGaN FETs can be evaluated using two new reference designs and five demonstration boards available from EPC.

The EPC9138 demonstration board is a 400kHz switching frequency, 48V IN, 15A output current, buck converter featuring the 100V EPC2053. The EPC9141 demonstration board is a 400kHz switching frequency, 48V IN, 10A output current, buck converter featuring the 100V EPC2045.

Standard half-bridge development boards are also available to support in-circuit performance evaluation of each of the 100V family devices. The EPC9093 supports the EPC2053, the EPC9078 and EPC9205 support the EPC2045, the EPC9092 supports the EPC2052 and the EPC9091 supports the EPC2051.

http://www.epc-co.com

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FPGA provides customised solutions for data0centric business

Wed, Apr 03, 2019

FPGAs that will provide customised solutions for data-centric challenges in embedded, network and data centre sectors have been released by Intel. The Agilex FPGAs deliver customised connectivity and acceleration and performance and power improvements for diverse workloads, says Dan McNamara, Intel senior vice president, Programmable Solutions Group.

The Agilex FPGA is believed to be the first FPGA to support Compute Express Link, a cache and memory coherent interconnect to future Intel Xeon Scalable processors. The FPGA’s second generation HyperFlex architecture provides up to 40 per cent higher performance, or up to 40 per cent lower total power compared with Intel Stratix 10 FPGAs, notes Intel.

It is also believed to be the only FPGA supporting hardened BFLOAT16 and up to 40TFLOPS of DSP performance (FP16) and it has Gen 5 PCIe for higher bandwidth that PCIe Gen 4.

The Agilex FPGA supports data transfer rates of up to 112Gbits per second and has advanced memory support with DDR5, HBM and Intel Optane DC persistent memory support.

The Agilex FPGA fabric is built on Intel’s 10nm process with heterogeneous 3D SiP technology. This provides the capability to integrate analogue, memory, custom computing, custom I/O, and Intel eASIC device tiles into a single package with the FPGA fabric. Intel delivers a custom logic continuum with reusable IPs through a migration path from FPGA to structured ASIC. One application program interface (API) provides a software-friendly heterogeneous programming environment, enabling software developers to access acceleration via the use of FPGAs, maintains Intel.

The FPGAs have been developed to support customers in aggregating and processing increasing amounts of data traffic for emerging, data driven industries like edge computing, networking and the cloud. Intel Agilex FPGAs can be used in edge analytics for low-latency processing, virtualised network functions to improve performance, or data centre acceleration for greater efficiency, says Intel. They are built to deliver customised solutions for applications from the edge to the cloud.

The Agilex FPGAs have the flexibility to meet the hardware system challenges presented by advances in artificial intelligence (AI) analytics at the edge, network and the cloud, explains Intel.

http://www.intel.com

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Keysight and Qualcomm validate 5G NR multi-mode device

Wed, Apr 03, 2019

Keysight Technologies and Qualcomm Technologies claim to have developed the mobile industry’s first 5G new radio (NR) data call in the frequency division duplexing (FDD) mode to accelerate deployments in all major 3GPP frequency bands including time division duplex (TDD) and FDD.

Keysight enables device makers to validate 5G NR multi-mode (FDD and TDD) designs in both non-standalone (NSA) and stand-alone (SA) modes. For this mode, the partners used Qualcomm Technologies’ second-generation Snapdragon X55 5G modem with integrated multi-mode support and Keysight’s 5G network emulation solutions.

Keysight’s end-to-end 5G solutions provide device makers the flexibility they need to rapidly validate multi-mode designs in nearly any form factor, to address global 5G connectivity requirements, says the company. Its 5G network emulation solutions, based on its UXM 5G Wireless Test Platform, enable device makers to validate 5G NR devices across protocol, radio frequency (RF) and radio resource management (RRM) in both sub-6GHz (FR1) and mmWave (FR2) spectrum for both 5G NR NSA and SA modes.

OEMs using the Snapdragon X55 5G modem to quickly validate 5G devices can apply the multi-mode device in smartphones with download speeds of up to 7Gbits per second, as well as industrial IoT, always-connected PCs and fixed wireless access applications.

Earlier this year, Keysight announced that a joint demonstration with Qualcomm Technologies at CES 2019 used the Snapdragon X50 5G modem and Keysight’s 5G network emulation solutions to showcase an IIoT application. In December 2018, the two companies demonstrated a 3GPP 5G NR SA mode IP data transfer, accelerating mobile operators’ ability to deploy 5G NR without using the LTE network as an anchor.

Keysight’s 5G end-to-end design and test solutions enable the mobile industry to accelerate 5G product design development from the physical layer to the application layer and across the entire workflow from simulation, design, and verification to manufacturing, deployment, and optimisation. Keysight offers common software and hardware platforms which comply to the latest 3GPP standards, enabling the ecosystem to quickly and accurately validate 5G chipsets, devices, basestations and networks, as well as emulate subscriber behaviour scenarios.

http://www.keysight.com

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Dual IO-Link transceiver shrinks for industry 4.0

Wed, Apr 03, 2019

Claimed to be the industry’s smallest, most power-efficient and robust IO-Link device transceiver, the MAX22513 is designed for industrial IO-Link sensors and actuator devices in smart, digital factories.

The MAX22513 surge-protected, dual-driver IO-Link device transceiver has an integrated DC/DC buck regulator. Maxim Integrated Products claims that integrating the DC/DC regulator and surge protection while providing four times lower power dissipation enabled by low (2 Ohm) typical on resistance drivers and a maximum load of 300mA DC/DC regulator with 80 per cent efficiency. It is also three times smaller size versus the closest competitor, claims Maxim. Integrated surge protection and reverse polarity ensure robust communications in harsh industrial environments to speed up the design process, adds Maxim.

The IC operates over the -40 to +125 degrees C temperature range and is available in both a 28-pin QFN package (3.5 x 5.5mm) and a WLP (4.1 x 2.1mm).

The integration of surge protection eliminates four TVS diodes compared to Maxim’s previous solution.

All four IO pins are reverse-voltage protected, short-circuit protected and feature ±1kV/500 Ohm surge protection for secure communications.

The MAX22513 is available now, together with the MAX22513EVKIT# evaluation kit  and the MAXREFDES171# reference design which is fully tested for ±1.2kV/500 Ohm surge protection.

http://www.maximintegrated.com

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