High-speed designs use digital components with very fast edge rates in their output signals which can be subjected to significant distortion and degradation creating high bit-error-rates and lower data throughput.  Insertion and reflection losses, crosstalk and impedance mismatch, are all factors, amongst others, influencing the integrity of a transmitted signal.

Empower’s E-CAP silicon capacitors provide wide bandwidth low impedance highly stable decoupling capacitors capable of being placed close and even integrated into an SoC substrate.

Empower Semiconductor is developing power management solutions enabling full unrestricted speed and performance of the latest xPUs.

  • High power density
  • High bandwidth conversion
  • Low power distribution losses
  • Vertical Power

The ability to process data and perform complex calculations at high speeds has been intensified in recent years by leaps in technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3-D imaging and autonomous driving. These technologies have exacerbated the need for faster and more complex processors and architectures.

Equipment designed to operate within a high magnetic field environment can experience power failures or abnormal operating conditions due to the force the magnetic field imposes on ferromagnetic material-based electronics.

Moreover, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices can record false or distorted images due to the inferences from such electronics. Empower’s IVRs regulators use non-ferromagnetic air-core inductors ideal for operating in harsh magnetic environments.

Data being communicated and processed around the globe is rapidly growing, driving the need for a new generation of faster data processing components and elements in data centers and datacom equipment.

Empower Semiconductor offers novel fully integrated power management solutions that both increase performance and solve the power density challenge of space-constrained data-intensive applications.

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System-on-Modules (SOMs) and Computer-on-Modules (CoMs) provide all components of an embedded processing system (processors, communication interfaces, memory blocks, power management, etc.) on a single production-ready printed circuit board (PCB). This modular approach makes them ideal for embedding into a variety of end systems and applications.Empower’s IVRs provide high-density configurable multi-rails regulators enabling rapid and flexible prototyping.

Chiplet architectures are rapidly gaining popularity over monolithic designs in developing complex SoCs. While providing increased performance, design flexibility and upgradability, they do, however, require more complex power management and PCB routing.

Empower’s IVRs can be integrated as an additional chiplet into an SoC increasing the power delivery efficiency and simplifying PCB routing.

Empower Semiconductor Begins Volume Production of the EP70XX Integrated Voltage Regulator (IVR) Family

Jul 29, 2021 | Press Release

World’s Smallest and Fastest Voltage Regulators Now in Production with 10 Week Lead Times

Milpitas, Calif., July 29th, 2021 — Empower Semiconductor, provider of the first and only Integrated Voltage Regulator (IVR), today announced the production release of its EP70xx series of devices to drive a dramatic reduction in power consumption in data centers globally.  This family of high-performance power management ICs utilize Empower’s breakthrough technology to eliminate all external components, delivering the smallest and highest performance solution in the industry.

“Customers have embraced this incredible technology developed by our world class team.  We are excited to bring the EP70xx IVR family to volume production with the ability to deliver in short lead times due to our unique configurable product platform,” said Tim Phillips, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Empower Semiconductor. “We have a full production ramp prepared to support customer’s existing and new designs.  The combination of density, speed and efficiency is allowing designers to utilize our products in groundbreaking ways, enabling breakthrough levels of system performance.”

With its revolutionary product platform, the EP70xx, Empower has achieved the total integration of a triple-output DC/DC power supply with no external components into a single tiny 5mm x 5mm package. The result is up to 10x higher current density, 3x tighter accuracy during transients, and 1,000x faster dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) than leading competitors.  The ExpressV™ DVS is capable of scaling voltage by +/-10mV/ns, delivering up to 50% energy savings in processor-intensive applications compared to traditional power management. “Data center power continues to limit the full potential of the Cloud as the industry struggles with power and cooling within compute, networking, and storage,” said Alan Weckel, Founder and Technology Analyst at 650 Group.  “As the industry moves towards AI and ML workloads and edge computing, Empower’s industry-leading power density and performance will help drive future designs and unleash a new wave of Cloud computing in the data center.”

The Empower IVR™ features the world’s fastest load transient response and regulates through a 0 to 10A load step in 500ns with <15mv droop, with ZERO output capacitors.  It features nearly flat efficiency curves up through maximum load due to the unique architecture, allowing designers to maximize the output power capability from any single output.  The patented digitally configurable hardware platform has simplified the adoption of DC/DC converters.  With a single footprint, no external components, extensive programmability including a wide range of current and output configurations, the EP70xx proliferates across nearly all designs and platforms.  By having multiple entire power supplies in a single IC package, the traditional concerns of component variation and sourcing, synchronization and stability are all either eliminated or reduced significantly.

 “Because we can support high-volume production orders within a 10 week lead time we have seen customers take advantage of the quick and simplified design process with the assurance of a short delivery time,” said Steve Shultis, Senior Vice President WW Sales, and Marketing at Empower Semiconductor. “Support for the EP70xx IVR series includes expert field and factory resources, reference designs and design tools that allow customers to rapidly move to prototyping.  The easy-to-use GUI is utilized to program the device via the I3C/I2C port during operation.  Just like that you have three outputs tightly regulated at high currents with wide bandwidth.  No input filter design, no output filter design, no feedback resistors, no loop compensation design, no component changes.”

EP70xx devices are available with a choice of triple, dual or single-regulated outputs. Output currents range from 1A to 10A.  The packaging options include a low profile 5mm(L) x 5mm(W) x 0.75mm(H) FcCSP package or a 10mm(L) x 8mm(W) LGA option that is 3-5x thinner than traditional integrated power modules.  

To view product details, visit https://www.empowersemi.com/product-page-ivr/

About Empower Semiconductor

The exponential increase in the amount of data being communicated and processed around the globe is driving the energy consumption of datacenters and communications networks to 17% of total electricity demand worldwide by 2030(1), dramatically increasing pollution, carbon emissions and cost.  Empower Semiconductor was founded with the mission to “minimize the energy footprint of the digital economy” by developing novel fully integrated power management solutions that both increase the performance and reduce power consumption of energy-hungry, data-intensive applications. 

Traditional power solutions require dozens of discrete components with big footprints, complex designs and deliver power inefficiently with poor response times and inaccuracies. Empower Semiconductor’s patented IVR technology integrates dozens of components into a single IC increasing efficiency, shrinking footprints by 10x and delivering power with unprecedented simplicity, speed & accuracy and with zero discrete components. The Empower IVR™ technology solves the power density challenge to address a wide range of applications including mobile, wearables, 5G, AI, and data centers. In 2020 the capacitor technology platform was added to further address power density. E-CAP revolutionized the capacitor industry as the world’s smallest, highest performing, and incredibly reliable capacitor for wearables, mobile, and SoC applications. The company is based in Milpitas, CA and is led by a team of highly experienced power experts and executives.

  1. Nature, “How to stop data centres from gobbling up the world’s electricity”, September 12, 2018

Empower Semiconductor and the Empower logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Empower Semiconductor, Inc. All other brands, product names and marks are or may be trademarks or registered trademarks used to identify products or services of their respective owners.