Vicor expands range of intermediate bus converters

A Vicor product story

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team May 19, 2011

Vicor has expanded its IBC 050 and IBC 048 series of VI Brick intermediate bus converters.

The new range comprises more than 12 models, in eighth- and quarter-brick formats, delivering from 300W up to as much as 750W.

Offering pin-to-pin, drop-in functional equivalence to industry-standard converters, the IBC 048 and IBC 050 products enable designers to achieve significant increases in power density thanks to their higher power ratings and the PCB space liberated by the reduced need for external passive components.

The latest model, introduced at PCIM, is the IB050Q096T70N1-00, a high-power, 5:1 conversion ratio, open-frame drop-in replacement for industry-standard intermediate bus converters.

It operates from a wide input voltage range of 36V to 60V at power levels of up to 750W, with 2,250VDC isolation from input to output, while achieving more than 98 per cent peak efficiency.

The IB050Q096T70N1-00 delivers an output bus voltage of 7V to 12V, while other members with 4:1 conversion output 8.7V to 15V.

The range includes standard 38V to 55V input range converters (IBC 048) as well as the wide-input IBC 050 types.

In all cases, the modules are compliant with ETSI EN300 132-2 for 48V telecommunications applications and their higher input-to-output isolation complies with IEEE 802.3 power-over-Ethernet (PoE) standards.

The IBC 048 and 050 VI Brick bus converters use Vicor's Sine Amplitude Converter technology, offering a 1MHz switching frequency, a 10 times faster transient response, greatly reduced harmonic emissions and the elimination of external bulk storage capacitors.

The IB050Q096T70N1-00 also removes the need for costly heatsinks.

Full power is available at 55C ambient and only 200 linear feet per minute of airflow.

The product's standard quarter-brick outline of 58.4 x 36.8mm has a profile of just 10.5mm.

Other devices in the range with 300W and 500W output ratings come in the eighth-brick format measuring 58.4 x 22.9mm with an even lower profile of just 9.5mm.

The products, which have a very small cross section, generate a minimal cooling air 'shadow', aiding the effective cooling of downstream components.