Renesas Electronics  is now supporting efficient power conversion and distribution for the 800V DC power architecture announced by NVIDIA.

Modern data centres are rapidly adopting power architectures that are more energy efficient as well as scaleable, to handle growing data traffic enabled by HPC and AI. GPU-driven AI workloads pushes data centre power consumption into multi-hundred megawatt territory. Wide bandgap semiconductors such as GaN FET switches are quickly emerging as a key solution thanks to their faster switching, lower energy losses, and superior thermal management. Moreover, GaN power devices will enable the development of 800V direct current buses within racks to significantly reduce distribution losses and the need for large bus bars, while still supporting reuse of 48V components via DC/DC step-down converters.

Renesas’s GaN based power solutions are especially suited for the task, supporting efficient and dense DC/DC power conversion with operating voltages of 48V to as high as 400V, with the option to stack up to 800V. Based on the LLC Direct Current Transformer (LLC DCX) topology, these converters achieve up to 98 percent efficiency. For the AC/DC front-end, Renesas uses bi-directional GaN switches to simplify rectifier designs and increase power density. Renesas REXFET MOSFETs, drivers and controllers complement the BOM of the new DC/DC converters. Visit renesas.com/power for more details.

“AI is transforming industries at an unprecedented pace, and the power infrastructure must evolve just as quickly to meet the explosive power demands,” said Zaher Baidas, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Power at Renesas.