POL Integrated Voltage Regulator Pushes Efficiency Past 97%

International Rectifier’s IR3846 35-A point-of-load (POL) integrated voltage regulator features remote differential sensing that enables 0.5% V_REF accuracy between 0 and 105°C, suiting it for high-power FPGAs and ASICs requiring a 1% dc or 3% dc+ac accurate power supply . Overall efficiency is greater than 97% peak, and 95% at 35 A with the ability to operate directly from 12 V at high switching frequency without a heatsink or fan. The latest member of the Gen3 SupIRBuck family implements a modulator scheme that allows for jitter-free and noise-free operation, boosting frequency and bandwidth operation to improve transient response. According to IR, the scheme also requires fewer capacitors, leading to 20% printed-circuit-board (PCB) space savings compared to other integrated solutions, and 60% savings versus discrete solutions. Applications include servers, storage, and netcom and telecom equipment that require high power density.

INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER