GaN Talk a blog dedicated to crushing silicon
Term: 48V
19 post(s) found

Aug 24, 2023

This is how Gallium Nitride (GaN) is Accelerating Vehicle Electrification - From ICE to MHEV to BEV

Renee Yawger, Director of Marketing

In this blog post, we examine the three major stages of this evolution – from ICE to mild hybrid (MHEV) to BEV – and explore the role of low voltage power distribution in shaping the automotive landscape.

Jan 20, 2023

Shrink Motor Drives for eBikes and Drones

Marco Palma, Director of Motor Drives Systems and Applications

GaN is a game changer for motor drive applications. For designers to take advantage of this technology, fast and reliable time-to-market is critical. Easy-to-use reference designs using state-of-the-art electronics and techniques provide a valuable tool to speed time to market. The EPC9173 tool allows designers of eBikes and drones to enhance motor system size, performance, range, precision, and torque, all while simplifying design for faster time-to-market.  

The EPC9173 integrates all the necessary circuits to operate a 3-phase BLDC motor with high performance, 48 V input, 1.5kW output, and three-phase inverter using six EPC23101  GaN ICs. Thanks to the high-power density and the high electrical conductivity of GaN ICs, the EPC9173 delivers up to 25 ARMS on each leg and supports PWM switching frequencies up to 250 kHz under a natural convection passive heatsink. The resultant quality of the current output waveforms, lesser torque oscillations, and total system efficiency increase the performance of the motor-drive system. Further, the extremely small size of this inverter allows integration into the motor housing resulting in the lowest EMI, highest density, and lowest weight.

Aug 25, 2022

How to Design a 2 kW 48 V/12 V Bi-Directional Power Module with GaN FETs for 48 V Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Tiziano Morganti, Senior Field Application Engineer at Efficient Power Conversion

Environmental pressures are creating pressure to quickly adopt newer, cleaner, and more efficient transportation options.  In 2025, 1 in 10 vehicles sold are expected to be a more fuel efficient 48 V mild hybrid.  These systems will require a 48V – 12V bidirectional converter, with power ranging from 1.5 kW to 6 kW. The design priorities for these systems are size, cost, and high reliability. GaN power conversion solutions are perfect to support a 48 V to 12 V bidirectional converter used in these newer models.

A new reference design demo board, the EPC9165, is available to help jump start the design of a 2 kW bi-directional converter.  The EPC9165 is a synchronous buck/boost converter with other supporting circuitry including current sensors and temperature sensor.  The EPC9528 controller board ships with the EPC9165 to incorporate digital control and housekeeping power supply; this board uses the dsPIC33CK256MP503 digital controller from Microchip.

Aug 04, 2022

Use the Superior Power Density of Gallium Nitride FETs to Design a USB PD3.1 Power Supply with a 240 W, Universal AC Input

Cecilia Contenti, Vice President Of Strategic Marketing at Efficient Power Conversion

48 volts is increasingly being adopted as the new standard for computing data centers and consumer electronics such as laptops. The new USB PD3.1 standard is also making inroads into laptops driven in part by the increase in USB voltage to 48 V that increases the total power delivery up to 240 W given a current limit of 5 A for the connectors and cables. Compatible power supplies using the new USB PD standard also face increasing pressure to yield a small form factor solution driving the need for high power-density. The fast-switching speed and low RDSon of GaN FETs address this challenge in multiple circuits that make up the power supply.

Jul 21, 2022

GaN Power Devices Achieve a High-Efficiency 48 V, 1.2 kW LLC Resonant Converter in a ⅛th Brick Size

Jianglin Zhu, Senior Applications Engineer

There is increasing demand for extracting more power from standard 48 V bus converters for server applications' ever-increasing power requirements. GaN power devices allow a designer to achieve a converter's goals: high efficiency, small size & high current handling, ease, and high reliability. To whet your appetite, EPC designed a 1.2 kW resonant converter demo board (EPC9174) in an 1/8th brick form factor that achieves an impressive 97.3% peak efficiency.

Mar 16, 2022

See How GaN is Leading the 48 V Revolution Across Multiple Industries at APEC 2022

Rick Pierson, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing

APEC is The Premier Global Event in Applied Power Electronics

Preparations are well underway for EPC to head to Houston for the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC). The team is excited to be back, in-person exhibiting a large variety of demonstrations showcasing how the superior performance of GaN is transforming the delivery of power across many industries, including computing, communications, and e-mobility.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the key application areas we will be showcasing in Booth 1302 at APEC.

Feb 11, 2022

The 48 V/12 V Automotive Evaluation Power Modules (EPC9137, EPC9163, EPC9165) Utilize the Two-Phase Synchronous Buck/Boost Topology

Yuanzhe Zhang, Director, Applications Engineering at EPC

The 48 V/12 V automotive evaluation power modules (EPC9137, EPC9163, EPC9165, etc) utilize the two-phase synchronous buck/boost topology. The edge connectors and controller card are also designed to operate two modules in parallel with one controller, effectively achieving four-phase and therefore double the rated current and power. An example using EPC9137 modules are shown in Figure 1.

Jan 07, 2022

How to Design a 12 V to 48 V / 500 W 2-Phase Boost Converter Using eGaN FETs and the Renesas ISL81807 Controller with Same BOM Size as Silicon, Offering Superior Efficiency and Power Density

Jianglin Zhu, Senior Applications Engineer

48 V is being adopted in many applications, including AI systems, data centers, and mild hybrid electric vehicles. However, the conventional 12 V ecosystem is still dominant, so a high power density 12 V to 48 V boost converter is required. The fast-switching speed and low RDS(on) of eGaN FETs can help address this challenge. In this post, the design of a 12 V to 48 V, 500 W DC-DC power module using eGaN® FETs directly driven by eGaN FET compatible ISL81807 controller IC from Renesas in the simple and low-cost synchronous boost topology is evaluated.

Dec 14, 2020

How to Design a Bi-Directional 1/16th Brick 48 V-12 V Converter Using Monolithic GaN ePower™ Stage

Alex Lidow, Ph.D., CEO and Co-founder

Brick DC-DC converters are widely used in data center, telecommunication and automotive applications, converting a nominal 48 V bus to (or from) a nominal 12 V bus. Advances in GaN integrated circuit (IC) technology have enabled the integration of the half bridge and gate drivers, resulting in a single chip solution that simplifies layout, minimizes area, and reduces cost.

This application note discusses the design of a digitally controlled bi-directional 1/16th brick converter using the integrated GaN power stage for 48 V-to-12 V application, with up to 300 W output power, and peak efficiency of 95%.

The standard dimension of the 1/16th brick converter is 33 x 22.9 mm (1.3 x 0.9 inch). The height limit for this design is set to 10 mm (0.4 inch).

Jan 02, 2020

2020 New Year with GaN

Nick Cataldo, Senior Vice President for Global Sales and Marketing

Dear Friends, colleagues and partners of EPC,

Happy New Year to you and your family from all of us at EPC!

2019 was a year to remember for EPC’s GaN innovations and the multiple use cases for GaN that have come to fruition. EPC’s latest generation of GaN products have enabled engineers to gain power stage advantages due to their low RDS(on) characteristics, higher efficiency, enhanced thermal properties, small size and low cost. Now, more than ever, power system designers are switching from silicon devices to higher performance GaN components.