Vicor has entered into a non-exclusive licensing deal with Sony that gives the Japanese company rights to design and manufacture power converters using Vicor's V*I Chip technology and Factorised Power Architecture.
The Vicor technology can be used in Sony products and sold to its customers in certain agreed-upon applications. Royalties are based upon the value of licensed converters used or sold.
The license also grants Sony rights to manufacture certain semiconductor components that are used in V*I Chips. Vicor will have rights to purchase those semiconductor components from Sony. Picor Corporation, a subsidiary of Vicor, and Great Wall Semiconductor, an independent company of which Vicor is a minority owner, developed the referenced semiconductor components and are parties to the licence.
The licence has a term of ten years and is renewable thereafter.
The V*I Chips achieve a maximum power density greater than 1,000Watts/cubic-inch processing up to 300Watts with 97% efficiency in SMD or BGA packages that occupy less than 0.25 cubic-inch of space. One class of V*I Chips, called VTMs, provide isolation, voltage division and current multiplication. VTMs respond to instant step changes in load current by as much as 100A /VTM, in a fraction of a millionth of a second, supporting stable voltages at the point of load.
Commenting on the agreement, Andrew Hilbert, senior director, product marketing at Vicor, said: 'We have entered into a technology licence with Sony. This will bring V*I Chip technology and Factorised Power Architecture into consumer markets. We are very excited about the opportunities for both Sony and Vicor as a result of this agreement.'