Successful dc/dc converter modules market driven by architectures and materials

Successful dc/dc converter modules market driven by architectures and materials

The total worldwide revenue market for dc/dc converter modules is expected to reach approximately $4.3 billion by 2016, according to the Darnell report “Worldwide dc/dc converter module forecasts: Power architectures, product types, voltage trends and applications.” The report says the focus has shifted to more external factors such as new power architectures and new materials.

Market drivers

The report further says that a shift to external drivers could also create new internal opportunities. New power architectures are being designed with digital power management in mind. Internal loop control can be the value-added internal factor that differentiates these applications, accelerating digital adoption.

Changing power architectures are also having a strong impact on the design of dc/dc converter modules. These changes come from evolving system power demands, system architectures, developments in digital power technology, and new materials. The report says the emergence of the Centralized Control Architecture (CCA) and the Dynamic Bus Architecture (DBA) is expected to be as significant as the earlier replacement of the Classic Distributed Power Architecture by today’s Intermediate Bus Architecture (IBA). However, because the DBA market is still emerging it is not expected to have significant sales until later in the period forecast in this report.

Applications continue to drive sales of dc/dc converter modules. System sales are coming from the demand for energy efficiency, lower cost, smaller size, and configurability.

Standards also affect the design and sales of dc/dc converter modules in certain applications. Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) consumes a significant quantity of low-wattage (

Material drivers

The development of new materials such as gallium-nitride (GaN) is targeting the dc/dc converter module market and is expected to be a game changer for these products. Changes also are occurring in dc/dc converter input voltages. For the foreseeable future, 48 V is expected to continue being dominant. However, 12-V power buses are closing the gap, reflecting the continued growth in IBA and to a lesser degree, CCA architectures. The most typical IBA input voltages fall within the 12-V segment, which is growing through the forecast period, and will eclipse 48 V and be the largest segment after 2014. Although input voltages are moving down, some current trends are pointing toward higher voltages. For example, the EMerge Alliance is developing a 380-Vdc power standard for inclusion in its hybrid ac and dc microgrid platform. This open architecture focuses on reducing or eliminating inefficient ac to dc conversions that occur between power sources and digital devices in commercial buildings by converting and distributing power in dc form.

Nonisolated dc

The nonisolated dc/dc converter market is experiencing some of the greatest changes in the dc/dc module market, according to the report. Multicore CPUs and low-power microprocessors have been successfully introduced and have reversed the trend toward higher currents. The peak amperage levels are going down, but with increasing demand for embedded solutions. In addition, the replacement of dc/dc modules by embedded converters (and the increasing difficulty of efficiently producing low-noise tightly regulated outputs at increasingly lower voltages), has led to higher growth in the low-output-voltage ranges.

Even as the dc/dc converter module market moves from internal to external drivers, the changes provide opportunities that power supply companies can capitalize on. Demand for dc/dc modules is expected to be strong over the next five years. The forecasts, and the trends they reflect, will create a competitive, integrated environment for dc/dc module makers to introduce new designs and offer cost-effective, innovative solutions.

Go to www.darnell.com/market/product_info.php?cPath=2_24_27&products_id=229 for more information.