INTEGRATED DC/DC REGULATORS IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN SERVER, EMBEDDED-SYSTEM APPLICATIONS

摘要

Energy efficiency continues to be a major concern for server-farm operators, who can expect to pay three times the cost of the servers in operating costs over the life of the equipment. Further, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 1.2% of the total US electricity usage goes into powering server farms. Schemes for improving efficiency often center on power conversion within the server motherboard. Designs for high-density POL (point-of-load) converters fall into one of two camps. One approach uses a power-conversion IC with separate, discrete, power-switching MOSFETs.