Powering state of the art microprocessors is not for the faint hearted. Delivering precise, low voltage at currents in excess of 60 A, with lightning fast transient response and high efficiency in a diminishing area is a multi-disciplinary design task where the devil is in the details. This paper attempts to shed more light on essential considerations in VR/VRM design, such as control loop architecture, error budget, power switch selection, PCB layout, thermal design and packaging. The objective is to provide the prospective VR/VRM power supply designer with a "toolkit" review gleaned from hard-won experience. This toolkit will be created by a review of today's challenge, key design issues, some application examples, and finally a discussion tomorrow's design challenge.
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