Simply Stated but Challenging to Effect

As many of you already know, PSiP is a packaging solution with the complete circuit, consisting of several components, housed within a single package. The challenge comes from the variety of components required to make up the PSiP. At the highest level of integration, a typical PSiP includes a single-chip Power integrated circuit (IC) semiconductor, power inductor (L) and capacitor (C) passives, and small signal passives. The Power IC consists of control, monitoring, protection, and status reporting functions along with at least a couple of power transistors. Each of these components comes from very diverse sources: the semiconductor supplier, the power passive suppliers — with the power inductor (L) often coming from a source other than the power capacitor (C) supplier. This has created a technical wall between the power passives and the semiconductor processes. In fact, none of the many low-density (below 0.001 amperes/mm3) power supply converter manufacturers has attempted to enter the high-density market.

PSMA Saw the Possibilities for These Products Very Early

Members of PSMA, under the joint sponsorship of the Packaging Technical Committee and the Semiconductor Technical Committee, started looking at these devices in 2007. As the result of this effort, a Special Project was developed and approved by the PSMA Board of Directors and a Study was commissioned. The result were the publication of two PSMA reports - in 2008, PSMA released a technical marketing study, and in 2009 released a benchmark packaging analysis of six available PSiP devices, along with a technical marketing update.

There is Plenty of Opportunity Yet for Late Entries

As new players have entered the market, we have seen a variety of methods used to merge these two component categories into a single product. The challenges and difficulties are clearly visible when examining the number of failures that occurred in the effort to introduce products to the market. Of the 19 top suppliers participating today, less than six have appropriate technology and kill strength to be a sustainable PSiP producer.

In the past, the power supply manufacturer played the role of designer/assembler for power supplies. However, at output currents below 15 amperes, the semiconductor suppliers now dominate the power supply content. Only five of the top-19 suppliers are power supply companies, with the highest current density PSiPs now coming from the semiconductor suppliers.

The 2011 roll call sees fewer PSiP product introductions while players quietly grab more market share. The market drivers fueling the PSiP growth are 1) the need for ease of design-in and 2) the need for increased power density.

This year and beyond…

We saw the first PSiP digital-controlled dc-dc converter introduced this year. The next step for the PSiP will be further density increase and further cost reduction. Today, there is a wide gap between the highest and lowest market prices in $/ampere which may be due mainly to marketing methods and the applications targeted. We see this moving toward less diverse pricing in the future, especially as high-volume sales become more prevalent.

The growth opportunity for the miniature integrated power converters will far exceed the market for printed circuit (PC) board power supply products such as Bricks, point-of-load (POL) power supply boards, and voltage regulator modules (VRMs). Besides picking up a major portion of low current (below 25 amperes) POLs, they will also pick up a respectable portion of the over-30-times-larger high-end “down” market now served by various ICs, power MOSFETs, and power ICs. Also, the market will develop far beyond just the brick and POL due to the wide variety of PSiP and PwrSoC circuits. Already, we see new circuits that include battery chargers, LED Drivers, and RS485 and RS422 transceivers. The circuit portfolios will continue to increase, especially with the market leaders and the niche players.

The next step in integration is the Power Supply on a Chip, or PwrSoC. The market has yet to see this product, although there is a fair chance of a product announcement later this year. Key to this entry is the ability to create the power inductor on a semiconductor substrate. Although there are only a few commercial companies having the ability to manufacture the power inductor on silicon, there are a number of companies and universities deeply engaged in the development of a semiconductor-processed power inductor. Interest continues to be high, and the development efforts continue with technologists convening every two years to report their progress and compare notes. Business projections for the PSiP and PwrSoC are presently quite optimistic growing respectively in the two and three-digit percentage points annually.

¹ “PowerSoC 2008 International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip,” held in Cork Ireland, September 2008; “PowerSoC 2010 International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip,” held in Cork Ireland, October 2010

² Market Report: The PSiP & PwrSoC - The Ultimate Power Density Challenge 2008 – 2011, by Arnold Alderman and Ada Cheng, published by Anagenesis, Inc., May, 2011

Provided by Arnold Alderman, President, Anagenesis, Inc.

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