IEEE Sponsoring Power Supply On Chip Workshop
The IEEE Power Electronics Society and Power Supply Manufacturing Association is sponsoring a workshop focusing on integration of electrical power converters for multiple applications, and accessing a broad range of technologies. The workshop will be held October 6 through 8 at Northeastern University in Boston.
Complete integration on-die and integration within package are of prime interest. System performance requirements presented by present day and emerging applications demand ever greater granularity in voltage and control, form factor reduction, efficiency, and cost reduction. A major challenge on the path to integration and form factor reduction of dc-dc converters is the difficulty of integrating energy handling passive components with conventional silicon processes. Strategies addressing circuit and system approaches as well as advanced technologies for the design and manufacture of these passives are focal topics for the workshop.
The Plenary Session will feature four speakers. Bruno Allard of INSA Lyon will present a paper, “State Of The Art Of High Switching Frequency Inductive Dc-dc Converters In SoC Context”. Other plenary session papers are “The Road To Integrated Power Conversion Via The Switched Capacitor Approach” by Seth Sanders of the University of California at Berkeley; “Intel IVR Efforts And Learnings” by Shamala Chickamenahalli of Intel; and “Power Supply On Chip: From R&D To Commercial Products” by Francesco Carobolante of Qualcomm.
The workshop will have no less than seven sessions. Systems and Applications address the key system-level issues brought out by power supply on chip and other power integration technologies. It will also discuss the requirements, constraints, and trade-offs in such systems with a view to defining the potential benefits of power supply integration.
The Topologies and Control session addresses power train circuits and controller design for on-chip and other power supplies targeting miniaturization or integration with loads. The session will present the latest advances in system architecture, converter circuit topologies, including high-frequency, multi-phase or multi-level configurations, resonant power converters operating at RF frequencies, switched-capacitor circuits, topologies that enable ultra-high density miniaturization etc., as well as control systems enabling efficient operation at high frequencies. System design and circuit topologies will be addressed for applications across a wide range of system voltages.
Power Semiconductor Technology discusses active switching power devices suitable to facilitate various PwrSoC and PwrSiP concepts, especially devices and processes suited for the high switching frequencies needed to enable shrinking of the passive devices in the power conversion systems.. The presentations cover a broad range of technologies, including highly-integrated silicon IC technologies, vertical and lateral discrete silicon devices, and gallium-nitride devices.
The Magnetics session discusses the importance of inductors for power supply on chip. The session addresses magnetics integration and fabrication methods, thin-film magnetic materials and fabrication techniques, as well as potential application areas.
Capacitors for Power Electronics will address capacitor fabrication methods, foundry capabilities for capacitor integration and applications for integrated capacitors.
System Integration, Packaging and Manufacturing will cover tools and manufacturing processes considered to be the key technology ingredients to achieve integration of active devices and circuits as well as passive functions such as low impedance interconnections, capacitance and inductance. The current state of manufacturing processes, as well as roadmaps to integrate R, L, C and active components with appropriate values and characteristics for dc-dc converters with multi-megahertz switching frequencies, will be discussed required for the evolution of “device packaging” of power devices for different applications and market segments.
Looking at the current state-of-the-art, Granular Power will present the most recent advances in fully integrated power management, including switched-capacitor (SC), switched-inductor (SI) regulators and resonant switched-capacitor converters (ReSC), as well as techniques to fully exploit the opportunities enabled by truly localized, granular power management. Furthermore, the session will discuss system integration methodologies to meet the requirements placed on these power management blocks by the individual components as well as by the complete systems-on-a-chip themselves.
More information on the conference can be obtained at the workshop’s website. The contact for the conference is
Arnold Alderman, Workshop General Chair, at Suite 2000, 222 North Sepulveda Blvd El Segundo CA USA 90245. Alderman can be reached at (310) 704-7079 or at [email protected].
