Future Challenges for Power Supply Design

摘要

With the existing power technology, it is possible to achieve 25-30 W/in3 for a single 5V AC-DC regulator which is 10 xs better than a multiple output power supply. Yes the distributed power architecture cost is slightly higher than a multiple output power supply but the extra space available could allow extra space for additional system functions which will result in higher profitability at a slight increase in power system cost. No customer will ever pay more for a larger power supply but he will definitely pay for extra space available for additional functions such as I/O cards, hard drives and microprocessors. Also, a higher efficiency power system could pay for itself considering the high energy costs.