Ensuring reliable operation in multivoltage systems

摘要

As more functionality is placed in smaller form factors, advanced communications and computing markets continually demand technological improvements that lower costs and increase capabilities. These requirements result in higher levels of complexity per board. It is increasingly common to find several multivoltage devices coexisting in a single design that contains such devices as ASICs, FPGAs, and DSPs. The result has been a spiraling increase in the number of power supplies per card. High-end systems with more than 20 voltage rails on a board are now common. Only a few years ago, these would have comprised numerous boards with approximately four supplies each. Today's electronics designers face a challenging problem: how to ensure that 99.999% system reliability is maintained as power chain complexity increases.