RESEARCH
Integration of Front-end AC/DC Converter
Year: 2003
Fig. 1. Inside of a state-of-the-art power converter supplying 1 kW, 48 V dc power for internet servers from a 120 V, 60 Hz, ac outlet. 1.5U (1U = 1.75in) profile, 5.8W/in3.
In 2003, CPES successfully demonstrated for the first time a fully functional integrated 1 kW front-end converter for internet servers with over 75% of the energy processing functions integrated into IPEMs. The breakthrough was enabled by the CPES research that led to the development of active IPEM, where power semiconductor devices and electronic switching components are integrated using embedded power technology; passive IPEM, that integrates the energy storage inductors, capacitors and power transformers; and filter IPEM, for electromagnetic interference attenuation and power frequency propagation, which had been first reported to demonstrate superior characteristics and performance in the previous years.
The success is a result of the Center's multidisciplinary team working together to address the intertwined issues of high-frequency power conversion, semiconductor devices, advanced materials, and electro-magneto- thermo-mechanical integration. This paves the way for a complete paradigm shift in the electronic control of electrical energy to supply the needs for the very existence of our society.
Fig. 2. CPES testbed prototype of the same converter, demonstrating sixold decrease in the number of components and twofold decrease in size. 1U profile, 11.7W/in3.
