Distributed-power architectures now dominate in power-system designs for high-performance datacom and telecom networks, as well as data-center equipment. The change from centralized power—a simple ac-dc power supply, perhaps with battery backup, feeding the cards in a system rack—came about by necessity. Semiconductor operating voltages decreased as ever-smaller process nodes were developed to boost the processing power of ICs. The ICs became more powerful and their lower operating voltages demanded higher current...
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