Vlt Corporation

Vicor Corporation

Picor Corporation

Vichip Corp. Limited

Vlt Coporation

Vtl Corporation

Patrizio Vinciarelli

Michael B LaFleur

Andrew T D'Amico

Jay M Prager

Fred M Finnemore

Rudolph F Mutter

Lance L Andrus

Charles I McCauley

Sean Timothy Fleming

Steven P Sadler

Sergey Luzanov

George J Ead

Paul V Starenas

Patrick R Lavery

Robert E Belland

Brant T Johnson

Gary C Keay

Scott William Nowak

Charles Steven Skoolicas

John S Balog

Jeffery J Kirk

Jeffrey A Curhan

Louis A Bufano

Mark Andrew Thompson

Robert Joseph Balcius

Michael A Briere

John R Saxelby, Jr

John P Clarkin

Jeffrey Gordon Dumas

Claudio Tuozzolo

Craig R Davidson

Cruz R Calderon

Steven Norman Montminy

Basil Thompson

Estia Eichten

Andreas Gerasimos Ladas

Jeremiah Noel Foley

John Saxelby

Michael D Evans

Jeffrey B Van Auken

Alex Gusinov

James D Goss

Charles Francis Hutchins

Andrew T D Amico

Hubert R Zeller, Iii

Eva M Kenny-McDermott

Richard E Beede

Brian James Shaffer

Steven Montminy

Theodore R Harpley

John Clarkin

Wesley Roach

Jeffrey John LeBlanc

Andrew D'amico

Alan R Rockenbach

A high bandwidth factorized power system comprises a discontinuous-mode regulator supplying the input of a fixed-ratio power converter providing an output voltage. The discontinuous-mode regulator delivers power to the fixed ratio converter in a series of operating cycles, each cycle comprising an input phase during which energy is drawn from the input source to an inductor and an output phase during which energy is delivered from the inductor to the regulator output. A controller begins the input phase of an operating cycle of the regulator after the end of the output phase upon sensing that the output voltage is below a minimum voltage threshold.

High-bandwidth factorized power system and regulator

Apparatus for power conversion are provided. One apparatus includes a power converter including an input circuit and an output circuit. The power converter is configured to receive power from a source for providing power at a DC source voltage V. The power converter is adapted to convert power from the input circuit to the output circuit at a substantially fixed voltage transformation ratio K=V/Vat an output current, wherein Vis an input voltage and Vis an output voltage. The input circuit and at least a portion of the output circuit are connected in series across the source, such that an absolute value of the input voltage Vapplied to the input circuit is approximately equal to the absolute value of the DC source voltage Vminus a number N times the absolute value of the output voltage V, where N is at least 1.

Power distribution architecture with series-connected bus converter

An inductive device with flux paths through a substrate may be made by depositing a malleable magnetically permeable material into a hole in the substrate and curing the malleable magnetically permeable material to form a substantially solid magnetic plug. Deposition of the malleable magnetically permeable material may comprise stencil-printing followed by use of a flexible runner. A uniform extension of the plug above an outer surface of the substrate may be provided by a spacer on the outer surface. The spacer may, e.g., be a conductive layer and/or a non-conductive material on the surface. Magnetic plates spanning two or more plugs may form a closed magnetic flux path. A plug may be surrounded by a winding on a layer of the substrate. Extension of the plug above an outer surface of the substrate may ensure the integrity of an essentially gap-free connection between the end of the magnetic plug and a mating surfaces of a magnetic plate. The plug may be reduced for co-planarity with the substrate surface, or to form a recess below the substrate surface, e.g. to form controlled gaps in the permeable medium.

Planar inductive apparatus and method

A semiconductor package includes a VLSI semiconductor die and one or more output circuits connected to supply power to the die mounted to a package substrate. The output circuit(s), which include a transformer and rectification circuitry, provide current multiplication at an essentially fixed conversion ratio, K, in the semiconductor package, receiving AC power at a relatively high voltage and delivering DC power at a relatively low voltage to the die. The output circuits may be connected in series or parallel as needed. A driver circuit may be provided outside the semiconductor package for receiving power from a source and driving the transformer in the output circuit(s), preferably with sinusoidal currents. The driver circuit may drive a plurality of output circuits. The semiconductor package may require far fewer interface connections for supplying power to the die. Multi-output POL circuits may be used in conjunction with on-chip rail-selection and regulation circuitry to further improve efficiency. A three-stage power conversion system includes off-package, on-package and on-chip conversion stages.

Method and apparatus for delivering power to semiconductors

An improved distributed-output multi-cell-element power converter utilizes a multiplicity of magnetic core elements, switching elements, capacitor elements and terminal connections in a step and repeat pattern. Stepped secondary-winding elements reduce converter output resistance and improve converter efficiency and scalability to support the high current requirements of very large scale integrated ('VLSI') circuits.

Multi-cell power converter

An improved distributed-output multi-cell-element power converter utilizes a multiplicity of magnetic core elements, switching elements, capacitor elements and terminal connections in a step and repeat pattern. Stepped secondary-winding elements reduce converter output resistance and improve converter efficiency and scalability to support the high current requirements of very large scale integrated ('VLSI') circuits. Some embodiments of the multi-cell converter comprise integrated secondary-side switching devices comprising control circuitry that monitors circuit conditions to determine when the switching device is to be ON and OFF, thereby eliminating the need for secondary-side switch control signals and signal buses, primary-to-secondary interface circuitry and centralized drive circuitry.

A power adapter package comprises a power conversion module, an input board assembly comprising terminals for receiving power from an input source and delivering power to the input of the power conversion module, an output board assembly for receiving power from the output of the power conversion module and delivering power to a load via output terminations, a signal isolator comprising a bridge board spanning a distance between the input board and the output board, a case comprising top and bottom covers, and end cap assemblies for supporting and insulating input and output terminations. The bridge board may comprise a multilayer substrate comprising galvanically isolated and magnetically coupled transformer windings. The input and output boards may be soldered to contacts formed along a peripheral edge of the power conversion module.

Power adapter packaging

The system response time of a factorized power architecture may be reduced using a high bandwidth accelerator connected in parallel with a low bandwidth switching regulator to feed one or more downstream high bandwidth current multipliers, e.g. at the point of load. The accelerator may use a high speed linear amplifier to drive the factorized bus using stored energy derived from the bus or a low voltage bias supply. The accelerator may alternatively be connected in series between the switching regulator and the downstream current multipliers.

Accelerators for factorized power systems

A semiconductor package includes a VLSI semiconductor die and one or more output circuits connected to supply power to the die mounted to a package substrate. The output circuit(s), which include a transformer and rectification circuitry, provide current multiplication at an essentially fixed conversion ratio, K, in the semiconductor package, receiving AC power at a relatively high voltage and delivering DC power at a relatively low voltage to the die. The output circuits may be connected in series or parallel as needed. A driver circuit may be provided outside the semiconductor package for receiving power from a source and driving the transformer in the output circuit(s), preferably with sinusoidal currents. The driver circuit may drive a plurality of output circuits. The semiconductor package may require far fewer interface connections for supplying power to the die.

Encapsulated electronic modules having complex contact structures may be formed by encapsulating panels containing a substrate comprising pluralities of electronic modules delineated by cut lines and having conductive interconnects buried within terminal holes and other holes drilled in the panel within the boundaries of the cut lines. Slots may be cut in the panel along the cut lines. The interior of the holes, as well as surfaces within the slots and on the surfaces of the panel may be metallized, e.g. by a series of processes including plating. Terminals may be inserted into the terminal holes and connected to conductive features or plating within the holes. A conductive element may be provided on the substrate to connect to a terminal. Alternatively solder may be dispensed into the holes for surface mounting.

Panel molded electronic assemblies with integral terminals

Electrical/magnetic components and methods of making such components are provided. One method includes providing a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) including conductive features arranged on conductive layers of the PCB to form one or more windings around one or more predetermined axes. The method further includes forming a hole in the PCB at each of the one or more predetermined axes to accommodate one or more core legs. For each hole, an inner edge of one of the windings overlaps an edge of the hole in a lateral direction after the hole is formed. The method further includes assembling a magnetically permeable core including the one or more core legs, each core leg extending into one of the holes at the one or more predetermined axes.

Method of manufacturing a printed circuit board with a self-aligned setback

A power converter including a transformer, a resonant circuit including the transformer and a resonant capacitor having a characteristic resonant frequency and period, and output circuitry connected to the transformer for delivering a rectified output voltage to a load. Primary switches drive the resonant circuit, a switch controller operates the primary switches in a series of converter operating cycles which include power transfer intervals of adjustable duration during which a resonant current at the characteristic resonant frequency flows through a winding of the transformer. The operating cycles may also include energy recycling intervals of variable duration for charging and discharging capacitances within the converter. A gate driver includes a transformer, a plurality of switches, a current monitor, and a controller that operates the switches in a series of driver operating cycles having adjustable ON periods and adjustable transition periods during which capacitances are resonantly charged and discharged.

Adaptive control of resonant power converters

An isolated, power factor corrected, converter, for operation from a three-phase AC source, comprises three power processors, each power processor connected to one of the three phases. Each power processor comprises a cascade of a first and a second power conversion stage. At least one of the first and second power converters in each power processor is configured to provide galvanic isolation through a DC Transformer between the power processor input and output. At least one of the first and second power converters in each power processor is configured to provide power factor correction at the AC source. Substantially all of the bulk energy storage and low frequency filtering is provided by storage elements at the output of the power system. Low voltage semiconductor devices may be cascaded to implement low output capacitance high voltage switches in a multi-cell resonant converter for high voltage applications.

Three-phase AC to DC isolated power conversion with power factor correction

Electronic modules having complex contact structures may be formed by encapsulating panels containing pluralities of electronic modules delineated by cut lines and having conductive interconnects buried within the panel along the cut lines. Holes defining contact regions along the electronic module sidewall may be cut into the panel along the cut lines to expose the buried interconnects. The panel may be metallized, e.g. by a series or processes including plating, on selected surfaces including in the holes to form the contacts and other metal structures followed by cutting the panel along the cut lines to singulate the individual electronic models. The contacts may be located in a conductive grove providing a castellated module.

Panel molded electronic assemblies with multi-surface conductive contacts

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Boston, MA, United States of America

Patrizio Vinciarelli