Look Out, Here Comes The Sixteenth Brick

Though the eighth-brick format for dc-dc converters is only about a year old, one module vendor is already developing the next downsized version. Datel is planning a sixteenth-brick unit that will scale down the 2.3- by 0.9-in. eighth brick by shaving an inch off of its length. Unlike the eighth bricks, which drop into quarter-brick sockets, the sixteenth bricks will not be compatible with their eighth-brick predecessors. That incompatibility is a given for any vendor thinking of developing sixteenth bricks. However, Datel's decision to shrink the eighth brick's length may ease the transition to the new sixteenth-brick format by preserving connector pinouts and maintaining the spacing around the pins. As with the quarter and eighth bricks, the sixteenth brick will feature 0.150-in. clearances from its connector pins to the edges of the pc board. Meanwhile, the resulting 1-in. spacing between input and output connectors leaves just enough room for the converter's planar magnetics. (See "Sixteenth-Brick Takes Shape" at www.elecdesign.com.) For more information, contact [email protected] or go to www.datel.com.