New 500W Quarter Brick DC-DC Converter Provides Digital Interface, High Efficiency and Thermal Performance for Telecom, Computing and Server Equipment

Tempe, Ariz. [28 October, 2015] — Artesyn Embedded Technologies today launched the ADQ500 series, new 500 W quarter-brick isolated DC-DC converters with the high efficiency and thermal performance demanded by telecom network and data center equipment. ADQ500 series converters are Artesyn’s first to have both a digital interface version and an analog interface version, with both following the industry standard DOSA footprints. The digital interface version allows communication to the converter via the PMBus command protocol with control and monitoring functions for voltage, current, temperature and the setting and reporting of fault conditions. Standard analogue control features include output voltage trim, output voltage sense compensation and remote enable functions.

The ADQ500 series has an input voltage range of 36 to 75 V and is primarily designed for use with regulated 48 V supplies in computing and server applications, as well as standard -48 V supplies found in telecom equipment. Capable of delivering up to 50 A output current with a single fully regulated 12 V output, the converters have no minimum load requirement.

An ultra-high efficiency of typically 95.5 percent at full load and the ability to operate over an ambient temperature range of minus 40 to 85 degrees Celsius, makes them an ideal choice for the isolated converter in a distributed power architecture supplying power to non-isolated converters. Their open-frame design is optimized for forced air or conduction cooling and an aluminum baseplate option is available for enhanced thermal performance. The conversion technology employs 175 kHz fixed frequency switching to help minimize external EMI filtering requirements.

The converters are protected against output overvoltage, output overcurrent and overtemperature conditions. ADQ500 series converters have an enhanced pre-bias start-up capability and for high current applications two converters can be connected in parallel, automatically using the droop method of current sharing.

Artesyn ADQ500 series converters are low profile units that are ideal for systems with demanding inter-board spacing requirements; the open-frame models have an installed height of 0.43 inch (11 mm), while the baseplate versions require 0.52 inch (13.3 mm).