Current multipliers bring high power direct to chips to ease board design

CPUs, graphics processors, DSPs, ASICs, and a host of other processing devices (XPUs) are demanding more and more current. This demand complicates the design of PCBs, requiring highly efficient power distribution design as well as multiple power pins in the device package. Traditional point-of-load devices work only up to the chip’s vicinity (the last inch), easing motherboard power distribution design but not improving the motherboard-to-chip interface. Vicor’s power-on-package current multipliers solve that final piece of the puzzle, raising the potential for future XPU performance increases along the way.

The modular current multipliers (MCMs) mount inside a device’s package to provide high current directly to the XPU under the lid. The design calls for a relatively low-current 48-VDC supply to the package, which the MCMs convert to the XPU’s operating voltage while boosting the current. An MCM driver (MCD) external to the package drives the MCM and provides high-bandwidth, low-noise regulation of the delivered power. This “under-the-hood” conversion reduces the current flow required on the motherboard to the device, helping reduce loss and EMI as well as reduce the number of package pins that must be dedicated to power. Two MCMs and one MCD enable delivery of up to 320 A of continuous current to the XPU, with peak current capability of 640 A.

Two initial Power-on-Package devices are available: the MCM3208S59Z01A6C00 and the MCD3509S60E59D0C01. Multiple MCMs can operate in parallel for increased current capability. Operating temperature range is –40°C to 125°C.