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Article: Disaggregated DC/DC converters: a growing trend?(Power Sources & Circuit Protection)
- Article from:
- ECN-Electronic Component News
- Article date:
- April 1, 2008
- Author:
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In the early 1980s, the introduction of modular, high-density, DC/DC power converters enabled the popularity of Distributed Power Architecture (DPA) which overcame some of the problems of centralized power systems. These modular converters, now called bricks, delivered--and they are still delivering--all of the functions of a classic DC/DC converter: isolation, voltage transformation and regulation at the point of load. When the number of on-board voltages increases, however, DPA solutions naturally require more bricks, replicating full converter functionality and exacting a penalty in terms of board space and cost. Perhaps more significant, the power conversion ...