Digital Advanced Bus Converter Lowers Power Consumption

Ericsson unveiled the first model in its second generation of digital Advanced Bus Converter (ABC) products. Based upon the FRIDA II platform, which was announced earlier this year, the Ericsson BMR456 3E* Advanced Bus Converter delivers unprecedented performance to system architects who are developing equipment for ICT (Information and Communication Technology) applications that require fast response time, tightly regulated intermediate bus voltages and high efficiency at any point of operation to reduce power consumption.

This new generation of fully regulated digital DC/DC converters is based on a 32-bit ARM microcontroller that embeds the family's most advanced firmware to date. The FRIDA II firmware has been developed by Ericsson to guarantee the highest possible performance at any point of operation from low load to high load, and to handle line transients, such as those occurring in ATCA (Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture) applications when, for example, switching from Feed A to Feed B.

Designed to power telecom and datacom applications, the BRM456 is available in two input voltages ranges: 36V to 75V, delivering output power of 420W; and 40V to 60V, delivering output power up to 468W. Output voltage can be adjusted across a range from 4.0V to 13.2V via PMBus commands, making the BMR456 suitable for Dynamic Bus Voltage operation resulting in the reduction of energy consumption when communication data traffic is low.

In addition, taking full advantage of a highly optimized layout and firmware-optimized parameter switching to reduce power losses, the BMR456 delivers a typical efficiency of 96.5% and exhibits flat curve behavior from 14% to 100% load, positioning the product as the most efficient Advanced Bus Converter in its category. Designed for flexibility and high-power applications, when connected in parallel, the Droop Load Sharing (DLS) version of the BMR456 telecom (36-75V) and datacom (40-60V) versions can deliver 756W and 842W, respectively.

The BMR456 implements the FRIDA II firmware, which is an 'Energy Performance Optimizer' that combines advanced Ericsson Intellectual Property (IP) together with a series of industry-first functionalities to continually optimize switching parameters and reduce energy consumption to an absolute minimum. The firmware is not just limited to energy management, but includes an enviable number of features including the ability to handle input voltage transients with slew-rates of up to 0.5V/µs, while keeping the output voltage within ±10% and ensuring that the output voltage does not trigger over-voltage protection. It also offers the highly efficient management of pre-bias start-up operation and a fully controlled shutdown process, avoiding voltage spikes that could cause an avalanche condition in the secondary-side synchronous rectification MOSFET, thereby contributing to improved reliability.

Ericsson Power Modules
Part Number: BMR456