Quarter brick digital DC/DC converter for RFPA market delivers up to 500 W

Flex Power Modules announces the BMR683, a new series of digital PMBus DC/DC converters primarily aimed at radio frequency power amplifier (RFPA) applications and infrastructure for the 5G telecom market. The new converter family provides indispensable monitoring functionality and control of the feedback loop to help stabilization.

The high-density BMR683 converter is introduced in the industry-standard quarter-brick format, saving valuable board space. The device has an output power up to 500 W at 28 Vout, and an input voltage range of 36 V to 60 V. Delivering an excellent price/performance ratio, it has typical efficiency peaking at 95.5% at full load, and a broad output voltage adjustment range of 14 V to 35 V, allowing for easy optimization of the connected RF section.

For RFPA applications using 28 V gallium nitride (GaN) or laterally diffused MOSFET (LDMOS) power amplifier designs, the high-power converter provides a digital PMBus interface to allow easy monitoring of input and output voltages, output current, and device temperature. The device also allows users to configure many aspects of the device operation including voltage and current for improved fault tolerance, and optimization of the module’s control loop for stable operation in a wide range of circumstances. Power management features also include configurable soft start/stop, precision delay, and ramp-up.

Sophisticated over-voltage, over-temperature and short-circuit protection mechanisms enable a prolonged operational lifespan, with a mean time between failures (MTBF) of over 5 million hours (Mh).

As with all Flex Power Modules’ DC/DC converters, these units comply with IEC/EN/UL 62368-1 safety standards. The devices offer an operational temperature range of -40°C to +125°C. The industry-standard quarter brick DC/DC converter measures 58.4 x 36.8 x 12.7 mm (2.3 x 1.45 x 0.5 in).

Olle Hellgren, Director Product Management and Business Development at Flex Power Modules, said: “The BMR683 combines exceptional efficiency, power density and reliability with increased design flexibility and monitoring functionality by including a digital interface for the first time for GaN and LDMOS RFPA applications. The control optimization especially makes this new solution ideal for dealing with the load fluctuations in FPGA applications.”