Industry Group Issues Application Guidelines for Board-Mounted Power

Mar 28, 2007 4:56 PM
by David Morrison, Editor, Power Electronics Technology

A consortium comprised of both users and vendors of board-mounted power supplies (BMPSs) has published what it describes as the industry’s first Board Mounted Power Supply (BMPS) Application Guidelines. This 148-page document issued by the High Density Packaging (HDP) User Group is intended to support the communications and electronics manufacturing industry by promoting understanding of BMPS products.

Originally started as a project within the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) in 2002, the guidelines-producing activity was incorporated into an HDP User Group Project in 2005. Since then major users and manufacturers of BMPS products, have worked to define the market’s requirements with respect to such products and to communicate manufacturers’ capabilities for meeting these requirements. The BMPS Application Guidelines document is the result of their efforts.

Contributors to the document include Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, International Rectifier, NetPower Technologies, TDK Innoveta, Siemens Networks and Tyco Electronics. The document is endorsed by users and systems integrators including Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Intel, Juniper Networks, Siemens Networks, and is supported by the PSMA, the European Power Supply Manufacturers Association (EPSMA), Artesyn Technologies (Emerson), and TI (PowerTrends).

“The introduction of the BMPS Application Guidelines will help our member companies to communicate, for example, reliability requirements and various impacts of design decisions. It will also help designers and users of board mounted power supplies to better understand and use these products,” says Marshall Andrews, executive director of the HDP User Group.

“We’re happy to see this project, originated by the PSMA, come to a successful conclusion and we’re eager to see it being adopted by the industry,” says Bruce Miller PSMA Chairman.

The document covers everything from basic topologies, power architectures, and reliability to today’s topical issues like digital power and energy savings. The BMPS Application Guidelines document is available from the HDP User Group offices and on the HDP User Group website. It is free to members of HDP User Group and to contributing BMPS manufacturers, and will be priced at $2500US to the public. Members of EPSMA/PSMA will receive a discount.

Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., the HDP User Group is a global research and development organization dedicated to reducing the costs and risks for the telecommunications and computer industries when using advanced electronic packaging and assembly. This international industry led group organizes and conducts R&D programs to address the technical issues facing the industry, including design, pc-board manufacturing, electronics assembly, and environmental compliance. HDP maintains additional offices in Austin, Texas; Stockholm, Sweden; and Tokyo, Japan. For more information, visit the HDP User Group website or contact Darryl Reiner via email at darrylr@hdpug.org or by phone number at (480) 951-1963.