A Smaller Dc-Dc Converter For Military or Commercial Vehicles

Vicor has expanded its lineup of wide-input 28-V dc-dc converters by introducing a family of eight converter modules in the company’s Micro dc-dc format. The Mico family of dc-dc converters offers outputs ranging from 3.3 V to 4.8 V at power levels of 50 W at 3.3 V and 5 V and 100 W at 12 V and higher. For applications that don’t require the full 150 W to 200 W provided by Vicor’s Maxi family of wide input 28-V dc-dc converters, the Micro family enables a significant reduction in converter size (Table).

The Micro dc-dc converters measure 2.28 in. x 1.45 in. x 0.5 in (see the Figure) versus the Maxi dc-dc converters’s 4.6 in. x 2.2 in. x 0.5 in. For those familiar with telecom-style dc-dc converters, the Micro package is about the size of a quarter brick while the Maxi package is roughly the size of a full brick.

The Micro modules are ideal for either 12-V or 24-V applications such as MIL-COTS or commercial battery systems in vehicles. They can also be used in a variety of vehicle or man-portable applications including lighting, communications, portable test equipment, display, and control systems.

With efficiencies ranging up to 81 percent, these converters operate over an input range of 9 V to 36 V. As with members of the Maxi family, the Micro family members are available in four environmental grades (with operating temperatures as low as –55ºC) with six pin options and three baseplate options. These modules are also available in RoHS-compliant models.

Pricing for the wide-input 28 V Micro module begins as low as $102 USD in 100-piece quantities. For data sheets, see http://cdn.vicorpower.com/documents/datasheets/ds_28vin-micro-family.pdf for the Micro dc-dc converters and seehttp://cdn.vicorpower.com/documents/datasheets/ds_28vin-maxi-family.pdf for comparisons with the Maxi family.

Table. Ratings for Vicor’s 28-V input Micro DC-DC Converters compared to ratings of the larger, Maxi DC-DC converters

Figure. Vicor’s wide-input 28-V Micro family of dc-dc converter modules offers a smaller packaging format for dc-dc applications in military and commercial vehicles.