APEXEXPO20109: Phasor and Vicor partner to deliver high current at low voltage

By September 12, 2019 March 27th, 2020 Featured, IFEC

Phasor, a developer of enterprise-grade electronically-steered antenna (ESA) systems for satellite-based mobile broadband applications, has worked with Vicor to develop a power solution for its new system.

Phasor’s modular, flat or conformal, solid-state electronically steered antenna systems are less than 1.5 inches thick, presenting an extremely low profile, and matching the performance of traditional parabolic dish antennas from 40 cm to 1 m or larger. Using low-profile components operating at high power density, Phasor’s mobile communications systems rely on Vicor’s FPA to provide extremely high current at very low voltage.

Vicor’s FPA package consists of a Pre-Regulator Module (PRM) and a Voltage Transformation Module (VTM)/Current Multiplier which together deliver the full, regulated, isolated DC-DC converter function. The Voltage Transformation Module (VTM) is a resonant converter and therefore also has very low noise when compared to a hard switched converter.

To meet performance targets in small and large aperture Phasor ESAs Vicor’s systems transform a 48 V supply into a 1.5 V supply (1 V in the next generation of antenna with even higher current).

Phasor’s desire to make this transformation at 65A (or even 80A) represented a major design challenge for powering their application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Offering far superior power delivery and efficiency than traditional DC/DC converters, Vicor’s approach to transforming voltage eliminates the need for multiple hard-switching converters with several different phases to attain 65 A.

Leave a Reply