Page 27 - PEN eBook July 2023

Semiconductors

To further demonstrate the
suitability of ePower Stages to
develop simple, compact and

efficient converters, EPC recently
released the EPC9177 reference
design featuring a synchronous
buck converter. The design, shown
in Figure 3, uses the EPC23102 to
achieve over 97% efficiency when
delivering 180 W into 12 V from
a 24-V supply—all possible in a
21 × 13 × 7.5-mm volume with

over 1,400 W/in. of power density
3
in a simple and easy-to-use and
control buck converter that can
also accommodate 48-V to 12-V
conversion ratios, owing to the
100-V rating of the EPC23102.

The reference design requires
only a 5-V external supply.
Included on the board are a linear
regulator, used to power the
digital controller, and a current
shunt amplifier, with bidirectional
current flow supported, which
allows operation of the module
in either buck or boost modes.

The digital controller is a 16-bit
dSPIC33CK32MP102 controller
Figure 3: EPC9177—overall top view (left) and zoomed-in views of top from Microchip with integrated
side (top right) and bottom side (bottom right)
high-speed ADC, comparators and
high-resolution PWM. By default, it
is pre-programmed for buck operation with a regulated 12-V output, operating at 720 kHz. The board
also has a pre-installed heatsink that increases the current capability by 30%, taking advantage of

the convenient and efficient QFN package with exposed top that can be used for enhanced cooling.

Read the complete article at Power Electronics News

JULY 2023 | www.powerelectronicsnews.com 27