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Previous issues of update: Q2_2005 | Q3_2005 | Q1_2006

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Membership in PSMA is open to any organization or corporation involved in the power sources and supplies industry. For membership information, visit our website or contact us by fax, telephone or email.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

 

f you missed APEC 2006 you missed the power electronics event of the year – the good news is APEC 2007 will be here before you know it. This year’s successful APEC 2006 in Dallas built on last year’s success in Austin and topped previous attendance records. More people (about 2500!) from all over the world came to Dallas than have ever attended any previous APEC. The Exhibit Hall was sold out - filled with booths from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling with people walking through the aisles whenever the Exhibit Hall was open. The sold out exhibition area was packed with new products and suppliers announcing their latest technologies, products and services. APEC has become a "pacing event" in the power electronics industry where suppliers time their new product introductions so they can announce them at APEC.

Many PSMA member companies exhibited at APEC 2006

The Rap Sessions were again heated discussions on proximate and topical issues impacting our industry. We were pleased to have a great number of high quality papers in the technical, special presentation and exhibitor seminars on all areas of practical power electronics, which were well attended and positively received. It was evident during the networking opportunities throughout the event that the best and brightest minds in the industry were again present during the conference. Quite simply, APEC 2006 was the best ever! The buzz was never ending! People could not stop talking about the standing room only Plenary Session, praised over and over again as the best ever. There was considerable praise for the quality of the Professional Education Seminars; all of the presentations and the Dialogue Sessions were humming as swarms of people kept the authors busy explaining their work and getting valuable feedback. We were pleased and proud to have record attendance from the editors, media – press, and industry and financial analysts. It was also satisfying to see attendance by many PSMA members and representatives from their partner organizations such as CPES, EPSMA, HDPUG, NEDA, PCMIG, PEIG and The Transformer Association.

Van Niemela, General Chair, at the Plenary Session

The Micro Mouse Contest was spirited as usual.

The press, workroom and meeting rooms were busy almost non-stop. Their feedback on the conference has been very positive as we work to make the conference convenient for the media and analysts and easy for them to attend. Our goal is to provide the best value and ROI for all of our attendee’s possible at this Premier Global Event in Power Electronics. Many of the special presentations and other information are available for download on the APEC website at www.apec-conf.org.

Attendees enjoyed the food & entertainment at the APEC banquet

What about next year? Well, APEC 2007 will be held in Anaheim, California February 25 – March 01, 2007 at the Disneyland Hotel. Southern California is a hotbed of power electronics activity and APEC will be right in the middle of it. Take a look at the Call For Papers and think about what you can submit. The Digest Submission Web Site will open on June 1, 2006. APEC 2007 is seeking Proposals for Professional Education Seminars, so submit yours on the website. If you are considering exhibiting don’t think about it too long as the exhibits are expected to sell out early again – the number of booth spaces are limited so book early to get a good spot. If you participate or want to participate at the center of gravity of the power electronics field you have to be at APEC 2007!

Provided by Kevin Parmenter,
Field Applications Engineering Director –
Americas, Fairchild Semiconductor,
Publicity Chair APEC 2006

he Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dallas, TX was the venue for the PSMA Annual Meeting of members on Monday, March 20. Over 50 people participated in the meeting, which began at 7:30 a.m. with a continental breakfast. The attendees included all nine recipients of the first PSMA APEC Attendance Grants. (See related article on page 3 of this issue.)

Election of Directors is an annual event at these meetings since the term of office for four Director seats expires each year at the Annual Meeting. Only Regular Members are eligible to vote for Directors and they selected the following for the term 2006-2009:

Arnold Alderman		Anagenesis (Affiliate Member)
Dusty Becker		Emerson Energy Systems (Regular Member)
Frank Cirolia		Artesyn Technologies (Regular Member)
Kevin Parmenter		Fairchild Semiconductor (Associate Member)

Dusty Becker is a new member of the Board of Directors, while Kevin Parmenter will serve his second term as a Director. Arnold Alderman was Chairman of the Board for the past two years and Frank Cirolia is returning to the Board after a brief absence.

The members of the Executive Committee for 2006-2008 are:

Chairman		Bruce Miller
President		Chavonne Yee
Vice President		Kevin Parmenter
Secretary/Treasurer		Jim Templeton

Incoming Chairman Bruce Miller reviewed the PSMA activities and notable accomplishments for the year 2005 and presented his objectives for the Association in the coming year.

PSMA Chairman, Bruce Miller

He reported that the Committees have been very active over the past year and that a new technical committee, the Alternative Energy Committee, will hold its first meeting this week. All of the committees had contributed to this year’s Power Technology Roadmap Workshop.

PSMA continues to provide leadership and to be a strong supporter of APEC. The website continues to grow and expand with new features and information. The site now includes six technical forums – with more to come - that are updated by the associated technical committees. The Members-Only portion of the web site is updated with special information for our members. There is now a PayPal feature that has been added the site so that members can pay dues and anyone can order publications on line.

In closing, Bruce encouraged each person take more advantage of their membership and to get involved personally – in depth - by participating in one or more of the PSMA committees. He also recommended that each person invite others in their company to take advantage of the benefits of membership and to make sure their company information on the web site is current and that their company is taking advantage of posting press releases on the web site.

Setting up for MicroMouse contest

Van Niemela, General Chairman for APEC 2006, reported that registration for the seminars, technical sessions and exhibits are approaching and may exceed the records of APEC 2005. The OEM Initiative continues in an effort to attract more OEMs and to increase the benefits to our exhibitors. The prize money for the MicroMouse competition was increased in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the competition.

Russ Spyker, chairman for APEC 2007, provided some information on his background and experiences on different APEC committees. He is still putting together his conference committee and expects a good turnout in Disneyland which has been one of our most popular venues. He welcomed comments and suggestions to make APEC 2007 more useful and convenient to participants.

The Chairs of each of the PSMA Committees presented a brief summary of their past years activities and invited attendees to participate in their committees.

Chavonne Yee, past Treasurer, reviewed the budget philosophy and requirements for the Association and presented a summary of 2005 expenses and sources of income. She also presented the assumptions for the six quarter forecast and the six quarter outlook.

She summarized her presentation by stating that:

• PSMA is in a strong financial position for 2006,
• Expenses have held steady over the past four years period,
• APEC 2005 income was higher than expected, and
• The focus in 2006 is to build and increase value for PSMA members.

Chavonne Yee presenting her financial report

Dr. Fred Lee of CPES

• Review the success of the external power supply (EPS) effort
• Provide an update on the new battery charger system (BCS) effort
• Review the related international and state efforts
• Look at future related efforts on power supplies

Robert Huang of the Cadmus Group

Chuck Mullett, PSMA Power Technology Roadmap Workshop Co-chair

APEC Banquet

Plenary Session at APEC 2006

ine students who are studying power electronics were given financial grants to cover a portion of their expenses so that they could attend APEC 2006. The PSMA Board of Directors authorized the Industry-Education Committee to establish the grant program to broaden the exposure of power electronics students to APEC and to the PSMA. The Industry-Education Committee announced the grant program in November and reviewed the applications before selecting the nine recipients:
 

Wilson Eberle		Queens University Canada - PhD Candidate
Li Ping Guo		Auburn University - PhD Candidate
Lihua Li		University of California Irvine - PhD Candidate
Konstantin Louganski		Virginia Polytechnic Institute - PhD Candidate
Habib Mustain		University of Arkansas - PhD Candidate
Rahul Sharma		Montana State University - MS Candidate
Satish Thuta		University of Minnesota - PhD Candidate
Thiwanka Wijekoon		University of Nottingham UK - PhD Candidate
Liang Yao		University of Central Florida - PhD Candidate

All of the grant recipients attended the PSMA Annual Meeting and were introduced to the Board of Directors and to PSMA members. In addition the students were invited to attend PSMA committee meetings, to meet people and to participate in the discussions. The PSMA Board of Directors hopes the exposure to industry activities will encourage the students to continue on their educational path and to participate in future PSMA and APEC events.

Comments from the recipients and from their Professors indicate that most of them could not have attended APEC without the financial grant.

PSMA will offer the APEC Student Attendance Grants again next year for APEC 2007. Be sure to watch for the announcement on the PSMA web site.

Provided by Doug McIlvoy,
Co-chair PSMA Industry-Education Committee

Arnold Alderman

Provided by Arnold Alderman

Dusty Becker

Provided by Dusty Becker

iress Enterprises (SE) is a third party power supply repair depot providing services to major OEM’s, end users and power supply manufactures. Since SE’s establishment in 1989 our goals have been quality, fast turn-around time, at competitive repair prices.

Siress gains its competitive advantage through its knowledge of complex power supplies and its ability to repair units most organizations can’t repair, or can’t afford to repair. We service all makes and brands both in production and out. Our ten day turn-around has made us a highly valued vendor for all our customers.

The Company’s advanced diagnostics processes quickly identifies component failures so that minimum time is spent on trial and error attempts to determine the problems. This reduces repair costs and expedites the return of the component to operations. Our technicians have been trained by the power supply manufactures, which brings years or experience to Siress.

Each unit is logged and tracked from receipt, through diagnostics, repair and shipping. A component history file is established to identify and track all repairs. Each customer receives a complete diagnostics report along with the repaired unit.

Siress’s sophisticated analysis and repair approach insures customers the fastest turn around time possible. Ninety-six percent of all repairs are completed and shipped within ten working days. This allows OEMs to maximize services to their customers.

Since the industry is built on strong customer service, Siress Enterprise is proud to set a high standard and be part of your customer’s service team.

Provided by Bob Siress,
President, Siress Enterprises, Inc.

Editors Note to Members: We would like to profile your company in a future issue of the Update. Please contact the Association Office for details on submitting an article.

CHiL Semiconductor is a Fab-less Semiconductor Company headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. The Company was co-founded by Dr. Praveen Jain and Ram Sudireddy in January 2006, to leverage Dr. Jain’s patented technology. CHiL is focused in developing products for the digital power conversion and management markets. Dr. Jain has been conducting research to create technology for CHiL’s products for the last 7 years.

CHiL Semi is well financed by two of the Boston’s top tier venture firms.

As semiconductors move into smaller process geometry there is a proliferation of low voltage (< 1V) high current (> 50A) Microprocessors and high performance ASICs. These devices can consume more then 100 watts of power. Chip architects are implementing more sophisticated ways to manage this growing power demand by turning on and off part of the parts of the processor circuitry. While this does much to lower the power consumption it creates sharp voltage transients generating bursts of energy that needs to be stored. The CHiL solution nearly eliminates these storage elements to provide a "glitch-free" operation. The resulting benefits include significant system costs savings, reduction in board space and a 10x increase in system reliability (MTBF 10MHr). CHiL’s technology is being realized in ICs, Modules and ultimately PSOCs (Power Systems on a Chip). These products will address the transient response problem and also improve power architecture efficiency, real estate, reliability and power dissipation while decreasing system costs.

The target markets are any application using high-speed (GHz) processors. This is the case with product lines from all major players including but not limited to Intel, AMD, IBM, Freescale and Sun. Platforms that will benefit from CHiL’s technology are Servers, PCs, Game Consoles, Telecom, Storage, and consumer devices. CHiL is forging relationships with market leaders in these segments to help with product definition and system level test. They believe that the size of the market is over $6B for CHiL’s technology including $1.2B for CHiL’s first generation chip.

Metalman is part of USD 50 Million Eastman JRS group. This company is taking up the new battery project of import & distribution of all kind of batteries in India. The product types are automotive batteries, Industrial batteries, UPS batteries.

The company has received a number of awards including National Awards and Latin American Countries Focused Award for outstanding performance.

Payton is an international group of companies handling and promoting magnetic components, with sales offices and plants in Israel, Europe, United States and the Far East. As a global leader of both conventional and planar transformers, with more than 15 years of research and development experience, Payton offers a wide range of custom designed products that meet all the requirements and standards for a variety of specific product applications.

Their unique patented technology used in designing planar magnetics (Planetics®) will reduce the size and weight of present transformer by up to 80%, while increasing the product efficiency and its power density. Payton developed a proven winning technology that is evident in the superior quality of its conventional and planar transformers. This technological breakthrough is continuously enhanced by our devotion to further research and development that will enable Payton to meet and exceed customer's expectations.

Payton is already ISO 9001 certified and in May 2002 received the certification for ISO 14001.

Power Guide Marketing, Inc. is New England based and is dedicated to power supplies, power systems, and all associated products. Their goal is to provide true technical sales and support. They want to make your design a success. Everyone at Power Guide is there to provide assistance, not just hand you a catalogue. They can work with you from the simplest to the most complex power applications. They want you to stop working on your problems and let them provide the technical solution that is required.

Power Guide Marketing covers the six states of New England, with three offices in New England to support you.

Ron Josephson

They are very selective about whom they represent; that is to ensure that you only get products that are highly reliable, and meet all the safety agencies worldwide, at affordable prices. If you have a technical issue, they can help. If your volumes are too low to order directly from the manufacturer, they have the qualified distributors to give you great service. Whatever your need is in the power area, they can help. From 1 watt DC - DC converters to 2500 watt, hot pluggable, redundant power systems, they are there to support you. Wallmount and Desktop Power Supplies, they have the world's leading manufacturers.

If you are planning to design your own power system, Power Guide Marketing can provide the magnetics you will need. From high frequency magnetics to line frequency toroidal or laminate transformers, they can help. If you need batteries, they have them and can also provide the right chargers for them.

Saft was founded in 1917, and using its recognized expertise in battery technology Saft Power Systems was founded in 1947, introducing a range of innovative battery chargers and power systems.

Today, Saft Power Systems & Harmer+Simmons through their four brands -Saft Power Systems, Harmer+Simmons and AEG Power Supply Systems - is a world leader in the provision of dependable power systems for Telecommunications, Information technology and Industrial markets. With a presence in 18 countries the company offers a unique product portfolio of AC and DC integrated power solutions.

Saft Power Systems' teams of experts operate worldwide and are dedicated to providing high quality power components and solutions. They power, secure and protect critical business against any mains failure or disturbance.

They supply:

- State of the art products with proven technology from a few Watts to several Megawatts

- Standard and custom power supplies and converters and power supplies

- Complete integrated solutions for all power applications

- Customised solutions to meet any requirement

- Quality and service at every stage of your project and for the operating life of the equipment

Their reputation is based on over 50 years' experience in power technology.

Saft Power Systems expertise and competence powers critical equipment anywhere, anytime. They keep your business running!

The Simclar Group of Companies is now one of the leading integrated co-manufacturing groups in the world, with facilities in Europe, the US and China.

2500 employees worldwide in 16 plants support a host of projects for international electronics-related companies.

They serve many sectors – electronics, biotech, defense, automotive, security among them, and within these sectors there are customers and products of every size and complexity.

With facilities in ten locations over three continents, Simclar can truly claim to offer you worldwide manufacturing capability. Each of the locations has its own key competences, and many are centers of excellence in their own right.

All of the locations are capable of high level assembly, and many have extensive experience gained over many years. They utilize expertise among key personnel wherever it exists within the group, and they will move expert individuals from location to location if it makes for a better project and more effective working.

A cost effective source for standard and custom magnetic components since 1956!

Torotel Products specializes in the custom design and manufacture of a wide variety of precision magnetic components, consisting of transformers, inductors, reactors, chokes, filters, common mode, current sense and toroidal coils. Torotel Products has been a key supplier to many Fortune 100 defense and aerospace companies since 1956. Torotel Products quality system is now certified to AS9100 revision B, ISO9001:2000 and AIR 5359 revision B replacing MIL-I-45208 quality system. Torotel Products also has certified solder operations per MIL-STD-2000 and J-STD-001.


Torotel Products Guiding Principles
INTEGRITY They are honest and ethical in their relationships with customers, employees, and community. They act consistently and responsively to deliver what and when they promise.

TEAMWORK Their employees, management, suppliers and customers are all involved in their team effort to reach our goals. They work together to provide a safe, healthy, trusting and open environment. They inform and communicate with all team members with respect, understanding and trust.

QUALITY Their products and services will consistently provide the best value. They will achieve Organizational and Operational Excellence while striving for continuous improvement.

FINANCIAL SECURITY They strive to deliver consistent growth in earnings and cash flow to enable them to take advantage of opportunities and enhance stakeholder value.

• Improve awareness of PSMA within member companies by conducting regional workshops, co-sponsorship of meetings in other region, and participation in global standards organizations.
• Sponsor market and industry studies to be provided free to members and sold to non-members
• Globalization of the PSMA organization
• Sponsor Summits/Special Workshops
• More Active Role as Voice of the Industry
• Closer Ties with OEMS through workshops, conferences, interaction with other organizations.
• CTO Roundtable Event to include Customers and Suppliers
• Sponsor Scholarships/Fellowships for Students in Power Electronics

Each of the PSMA technical committees will use the results and guidance from the survey as a road map to plan the next year’s activities.

The full analysis of the survey is also available on the PSMA website:
 Survey Presentation 2006, 665 kb

Provided by Lou Pechi,
Director, Market Development,
Power-One, Inc.,
PSMA Marketing Committee Co-chair

ETEC has been working towards RoHS compliance for over 2 years now, starting in March 2004. With the deadline for changeover just around the corner, we are now fully compliant with RoHS.

Our goal was to be RoHS compliant by January 1st 2006, and we formed a RoHS team consisting of representatives from different departments. The changeover is a large undertaking, involving not only new equipment, but also component packaging, processing and storage areas. In addition to this, there is a need for engineering reviews of component suitability for new processes, training of staff, procedural changes and stock management.

We didn’t quite meet the January 1st changeover – our first attempt at changeover happened at the end of February 2006. But then we had to change back to lead solder as we experienced an issue with a part going through the reflow oven at higher temperatures. We are now back to lead free paste and are confident there will be no more issues.

As you can see, the changeover wasn’t without hiccups. We thought we’d share our experiences with you - it may give you some insight, or maybe it could just be reassurance that you’re not the only company experiencing these issues.


Lessons SETEC has learned during the changeover process:

1. Define clearly what is meant by RoHS and Lead Free
With all the technical terminology used in the Directive, you need help to interpret what the actual requirements are. Key sources to help you do this would be the PSMA, also TUV and other specialist groups. You could also contact a lawyer who is a specialist in this area.

2. Play it safe and follow the flock
As this directive is new, you’re best sticking to the path that others have followed. Once everyone is clearer on RoHS and the implications, then you can start being a maverick. We looked to Japan companies as a guide, as we found that Australian companies tended to be slow on the uptake.

3. Do not assume that RoHS compliant parts conform to higher lead free temperatures
You need to work out the risk to your customers and your company if one of the parts you use gets stressed by the higher temperatures required. In our case, lives are at risk if a part fails to function in our power supplies, therefore we had a dedicated member of staff review all the temperature profiles.

4. Check that the total volume of the parts used in your products conform to the ppm ratio required for lead free
Individually the parts may meet compliance, but as a whole does it your product conform to the ratio required?

Provided by Louise Lloyd, CEO, SETEC Pty Ltd

ne of PSMA’s major achievements is organizing a Power Technology Roadmap Workshop (PTRW) just before APEC. It has been done every three years since 1994. On the Saturday before the start of APEC 2006, PSMA organized its 5th PTRW. To organize such an event, with more than twelve well respected speakers and five breakout work groups and to compile all this data in meaningful and presentable form takes enormous energy, enthusiasm and love of the industry. This year’s PTRW was organized by Robert (Bob) White of Artesyn Technologies and Charles (Chuck) Mullett of ON Semiconductor.

PTRW was organized in two sessions: formal presentations and breakout groups.

Roadmap scribes busy preparing their reports.

The formal presentations provided information related to a particular topic from a particular companies’ view, while breakout sessions provided the real essence of the technology roadmap. The breakout sessions provided in-dept quantitative direction to various technology parameters such as voltages, currents, topologies, densities, etc. Moreover, it provided some quantitative direction to qualitative issues like use of digital control, power management or SiC diode, by providing "expected" market penetration of such technologies in specific products. It was valuable discussion and information from a variety of sources with a collective consensus of the participants. The results of the breakout sessions were summarized and presented to the group.

To make PTRW manageable only widely-used product categories that would provide a good representation of the power supply industry were selected for the roadmap analysis. They were: AC-DC Front-End Power Supply: 1000-1200W, AC-DC External Power Supply, Isolated DC-DC Bus Converter, and General Purpose DC-DC Point of Load Converter. The projections were from the base year of 2006 till 2010.

The workshop groups were divided into: general requirements, circuit design and implementation, component technology, packaging, physical design, thermal management & assembly technology. These categories covered most of the technology issues. The discussions were further based on what were the technology drivers and enablers and barriers to change? These three issues provided a discussion-focus for the power supply technology roadmap. In addition digital control was considered as an enabling technology. Most parameters were quantified in an organized and meaningful manner as to be useful for decision making processes.

Listening to Roadmap presentations

Unfortunately, PTRW is organized through specific invitations and participation is not open to general public. All attendees were involved and had special assignments. But a general report will be published and available to PSMA members about one month prior to its release to the general public. PSMA will post availability as soon as the report is published.

The next PTRW will be held in 2008 in Austin just prior to APEC 2008. With rapidly changing technology in the power electronics industry, the PTRW’s charter has been changed from "every three years" to "every two years".

Bob White and Chuck Mullett deserve special recognition and the gratitude of the power supply industry for organizing this event.

A brief summary of the 2006 Power Technology Roadmap Workshop was presented at the APEC 2006 Plenary Session by Bob White and is available on the PSMA web site.

Provided by Mohan Mankikar, President, Micro-Tech Consultants

ypically, the embedded ac-dc power supply market is viewed as the staid and stable giant in the power electronics industry. Its growth trajectory doesn’t have the choppy water found in the faster-growing and often more turbulent dc-dc converter or power semiconductor markets. While the ac-dc power supply market as a whole is forecasted to maintain a stable growth over the next few years, a number of opportunities and threats are lurking in this market.

According to Darnell Group’s recently released ac-dc power supply report, the worldwide embedded ac-dc power supply market is expected to grow from $11.8 billion in 2006 to $14.8 billion in 2011. This is an annualized growth rate of 5.8%. However, hidden in this forecast are a number of business model, application, regulatory and technology shifts.

Perhaps the largest shift is occurring within the Consumer Market. Not only are the proliferations of new consumer devices continuing to drive increased sales of ac-dc power supplies, but the complexity of power supply design is driving the consumer market to use merchant ac-dc power supplies. This is particularly true for large flat panel TVs, including LCD TVs and Plasma TVs. In between 2006 and 2011, the use of merchant power supplies in the consumer segment is projected to grow from 5.0% to 9.8%. While this remains a small share, it accounts for a significant increase in sales because the consumer market is so large. In 2006, this market is projected to reach merchant and captive sales of 460 million units.

However, most embedded ac-dc power supply companies are not able to compete directly in the consumer market because the volumes are too high and the margins are too low. However, Delta Electronics, the embedded ac-dc power supply market share leader, experienced growth of 43% during 2005 and has continued this rapid growth into 2006, partially as a result of a growing focus on providing power supplies for markets that have traditionally been captive production. This and similar moves by Lite-On Electronics, FSP-Group and others will help them gain greater economies of scale and a possible a competitive advantage in other markets.

In addition to consumer devices, there are several applications and technical trends that are expected to drive the embedded ac-dc power supply market. Within the computer segment, Intel’s focus on dual core processors and the move towards the BTX will slow down desktop PCs’ continual rise to higher wattages. However, power savings will more than likely be eroded by other computer subsystems, most notably graphics processing. Blade servers are diminishing enterprise server and traditional server growth, but are providing greater revenue opportunities because they are higher wattage power supplies that require more advanced features, including redundancy and hot-swappability. Blades pose interesting powering problems because of their high power demands. A typical blade server installation has 10 to 14 blades in a blade server chassis. This chassis often has up to four hot swappable and n+n redundant 2 kW power supplies. So, a rack full of blade servers can easily draw more than 20 kW of power.

Power levels continue to rise, particularly as servers migrate to blade servers and applications such as Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) gain steam. The potential move to PoE-Plus, which is expected to at least double the power PoE offers, will significantly increase the power level of these devices. Additionally, the move towards the distributed power architectures and, more specifically, the Intermediate Bus Architecture, has created increasing demand for ac-dc front ends.

The increasing use of higher wattage power supplies, particularly in the broad computer market, is placing more focus on the efficiency of embedded ac-dc power supplies. The US Energy Star Program has already enacted voluntary efficiency standards for external power supplies, and Energy Star has begun to focus on embedded power supplies by drafting applications standards that include specifications for the power supply in use. Energy Star is expected to release a new standard for the Energy Star Label for Computers, which will take effect in 2007. This specification applies to servers, desktop PCs, workstations, desktop-derived servers and other similar applications. Energy Star is expected to specify 80%-plus efficiency at multiple load levels for desktops and similar specifications for the other systems. Other governmental agencies will likely follow suit.

However, regardless of regulations, efficiency is becoming more of an issue. As a number of data centers are facing double-digit increases in their utility costs associated with higher energy costs worldwide, system OEMs may be forced to offer more energy-efficient servers, storage and datacom systems. For instance, data centers in the US’s Northeast are seeing electricity rates skyrocket. The average annual electric bill for high-end servers is $8,760 and the average data center saw electricity costs rise by over 20% in 2005.

The move towards digital power control and conversion remains in its infancy, but is beginning to play a role in the ac-dc power supply market. During 2004 and 2005, "digital power" became the buzzword in the power electronics industry. While much of the focus of digital power has been in the dc-dc converter and voltage regulator markets, ac-dc front ends have seen more digital product introductions. As efficiency has become an increasingly important issue, the ability to maximize a power supplies efficiency curve at various loads will be highly valued. This will drive adoption of digital in ac-dc front ends, particularly for higher-powered systems.

As this business model, technological and regulatory shifts occur, embedded ac-dc power supply makers will enjoy riding the waves that are typically found in the dc-dc converter market. Surf’s up!

Provided by Jeremiah Bryant, Research Analyst, Darnell Group

he Taiwanese power supply specialist Delta Electronics strengthened its already dominant position in the merchant power supply market during 2005. Not satisfied with its considerable 4% market share lead in 2003, exceptional performances in 2004 and 2005 have further distanced itself from its nearest rival, Astec/Emerson. Both companies are most active in the AC/DC segment of the market.

IMS Research’s latest study on the worldwide power supply market quantifies that Delta had an estimated market share of 13.1% of the global $13.9 billion market in 2005. As can be seen, second place Astec/Emerson had a market share of 7.0%, although it is interesting to note that if you roll in the revenues from the newly acquired Artesyn business, its market share would have been 9.5% in 2005. Beyond the second place spot, the market fragments significantly highlighting the highly distributed and competitive nature of the power supply industry.

The outlook for the market as a whole in 2006 remains favorable. IMS Research predicts revenue growth of 7.7%, although the market is not expected to pass the $15 billion milestone until 2007. Following an above average growth year in 2006, the market is expected to cool off over the next few years. This is not to say the market is projected to stall, as the lowest growth year is forecast for 2010 when a healthy 4.7% revenue growth is still predicted!

There are several notable dynamics under-pinning the market performance. Firstly, the AC/DC segment is forecast to outperform the DC/DC segment in revenue terms. Historically, the DC/DC segment has often been associated with double-digit annual growth. However, a number of deleterious growth factors, such as intense price erosion, encroachment of discrete solutions in the lower power ranges and reduced demand from certain key application sectors, have contributed to soften growth potential. In contrast, the AC/DC power supply market is enjoying strong demand from external adapters used in the consumer and notebook markets in addition to continued positive investment in the IT sector.

Secondly, overall market growth is forecast to be restrained by the mobile communications sector. This sector is projected to experience slowing demand for cellular handsets due to market saturation over the next five years, significant price declines of equipment and power supplies for cellular infrastructure and also a predicted decline in base station (and TRX) shipments in the second half of the forecast period.

Finally, over the next five years the disparity between growth in Asia versus growth in Europe and the Americas is expected to reduce. Revenue growth in excess of 10% is expected for Asia in 2006; however, by 2010 this expected to have slowed to 6-7%. In spite of this, Asia will remain the engine room for the power supply market, and is expected to account for over 50% of the market by the end of the decade.

Provided by Ash Sharma, Senior Analyst, IMS Research

APEC 2007

Twenty-second Annual
IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition

1. AC-DC Converters
Single phase and multiphase ac-dc power supplies, power factor correction, multilevel active front end conversion

2. DC-DC Converters
Low voltage to low voltage conversion, high voltage, high power (kW to MW), microprocessor power (VRMs)

3. DC-AC Inverters
Dc to single phase, dc to multiphase, multilevel inverters

4. Motor Drives
Drives for induction machines, permanent magnet machines, switched reluctance machines

5. Other Power Electronic Circuits
6. Semiconductors
Discrete and integrated devices


7. Energy Storage Components
Magnetics, capacitors, batteries and chargers


8. Mechanical Components
Connectors, bus bars, substrates, thermal management

9. Sensors
Electrical sensors, nonelectrical sensors, sensor signal conditioning

10. Other Components

11. Applications and Systems
Power systems for electronic equipment, mobile and autonomous equipment, automotive and transportation, aerospace, military, lighting systems, ballasts, alternative energy, UPS, electrical power generation, transmission and distribution

12. Modeling, Simulation and Control
Power supplies, electric machines and drives, power systems

13. Physical Design and Packaging
Thermal management, integration of design tools, physical design, packaging, EMI and EMC

14. Business Issues
Marketing, manufacturing, quality, test, power electronics business issues, DFx, standards and regulations

15. Other Topics
The following are the PSMA Committee Chairs in these areas and may be contacted to provide guidance to prospective Authors in the preparation of their abstracts and papers:

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY:		Alex Levran
CAPACITORS:		John Bowers & John Prymak
DIGITAL CONTROL:		Arnold Alderman
EDUCATION:		Doug McIlvoy & Keyue Smedley
MAGNETICS:		Steve Carlsen
MANUFACTURING - QUALITY - RELIABILITY:		Cris Marin & Vesa Vihavainen
MARKETING:		Barry Papermaster & Lou Pechi
POWER ELECTRONICS PACKAGING:		Brian Narveson & Cian O’Mathuna
SEMICONDUCTORS:		Carl Blake, Alex Craig & Aung Tu

Join us on September 10 – 14, 2006

• Technical Papers and presentations covering the latest telecom power developments
• Tutorials for continuing education
• An Exhibition of the latest products to support telecom power systems
• Meet and exchange ideas with the leading professionals in the industry

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.