Ericsson addresses CCA with 30A power block

Designed to meet the demanding requirements of multiple power rail applications where cost, efficiency and flexibility are mandatory, the ROA1283003 is suitable to power field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and other processors.

CCA is based on a centralised power management controller, driving single or multiple switching termination modules known as 'power blocks'.

Providing 'design for versatility' in many applications, the ROA1283003 power block can be inserted as a power stage controlled by a single- or multiple-phase PWM.

The ROA1283003 complements Ericsson Power Modules's range of isolated and non-isolated products that address distributed power architectures and simplifies power management in modern information and communication technology (ICT) applications.

Internet switching routers, computer servers and telecommunications switches and equipment are the prime users of CCAs requiring power blocks.

The ROA1283003 accepts input voltages of 7V to 13.2V and provides an output of 0.8V to 3.3V.

With a typical efficiency of 94 per cent at full load and 3.3V out, the power block is based on the latest technology available combined with Ericsson Power Modules in-house expertise in layout optimisation and in reducing power losses to a minimum.

In high-efficiency power-switching topologies, the Ericsson power block contributes to reduce overall power consumption and to lower the heat generated by power terminations.

Its 4.89-million-hours mean time between failures (MTBF) will contribute to system reliability, according to the company.

When powering high-current applications and considering active load management, transient response is said to be crucial.

Accordingly, combined with an external controller, the ROA1283003 provides downstream protection of critical and expensive components in such conditions, delivering the required current under any load conditions.

Meeting the flexibility required by systems architects, the power block is designed for paralleling operation, allowing scalability, in order to deliver higher currents on demand.

The ROA128303 has a built-in temperature sensor device and a DCR sense pin.

Patrick Le Fevre, marketing and communications director at Ericsson Power Modules, said: 'Because ICT high-board-density applications are requiring flexibility, quick time to market and high performance while reducing energy consumption and cost, systems architects are requiring suppliers to offer a wide range of power solutions that starts from traditional analogue point of load [POL] to very advanced products including a communications interface.

'Centralised control architecture is a natural evolution of the intermediate bus architecture and Ericsson's 30A ROA1283003 power block offers additional flexibility to systems designers when selecting the most efficient onboard power solution,' he added.

Utilising a digital interface such as I2C or PMBus, CCA makes it possible for systems architects to optimise the active power delivered to a specific load and to parallel multiple rails when higher power levels are needed or to order some of the rails to turn off when loads are in sleep mode.

On a typical application board, there are restrictions in power design when it comes to copper layer thickness, vias density, the number of available layers and space.

The use of power blocks is said to offer the application board designer the opportunity to achieve efficiency despite these restrictions.

The ROA1283003 matches the footprint and lead-free surface-mount assembling requirements of the first generation of power blocks.

It can upgrade existing boards in order to benefit from its high efficiency and low profile (11.4mm/0.45in maximum).

Delivered in an antistatic tape complying with the EIA 481 standard and dry-pack complying with the IPC/JEDEC standard J-STD-033, the ROA1283003 is intended to ease board-assembly processes.