Novel Switched-Capacitor Converter Supports 48-V Power Architecture In Data Centers

Focus:

The move to a 48-V power bus in data centers has triggered innovation in the design of board-level power supplies such as the zero-voltage-switching switched-capacitor converter, or ZSC, developed by Infineon. The ZSC topology is based on the Dickson charge pump; the voltage step down is achieved via capacitive energy transfer. It is a soft-switching approach and only employs a single, small external inductor to support zero-voltage turn-on. This article describes the principles of operation of the ZSC and offers tips for successfully implementing it. Experimental results are presented, showing the efficiency one ZSC eval board configured for 4:1 stepdown at up to 1-kW output, and another configured for 4:1 stepup. Application of the ZSC with different stepdown ratios, in combination with a multiphase buck converter, and in other combinations with POL converters are discussed.

What you’ll learn:

• How to understand the operation of Infineon’s zero-voltage-switching switched-capacitor converter (ZSC)
• How to successfully implement the ZSC converter in board-level designs
• How to stepdown a 48-V power bus using a ZSC converter and VRMs or point-of-load converters

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Author & Publication:

Rehan Tahir, Infineon Technologies Americas, Milpitas, Calif., How2Power Today, Sep 16 2019

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