Space-constrained applications generally require smaller power supplies. Smaller supplies, in turn, leave more room in a system for added functionality and processing power. But it can also require a tradeoff: Reducing the power-supply solution size has traditionally come at the expense of reduced efficiency and thermal performance.
Fortunately, designers who continue to be challenged to increase efficiencies while simultaneously shrinking component size can now overcome these obstacles via an off-the-shelf step-down module. It’s not only complete and ready to use, but it’s 30% smaller than anything else on the market and offers better thermal performance than competing power modules in BGA packaging. What’s more, the module’s buck converter integrates MOSFETs with low drain-source on-resistance (RDS(on)) to enable conversion efficiency of 90% at 24 V to 5 V in a buck application.