Rad-hard power module from Vicor used in Boeing mPOWER satellite
NewsJanuary 06, 2021
ANDOVER, Mass. Vicor is supporting the Boeing-manufactured O3b mPOWER satellite with the first radiation-fault-tolerant DC-DC converter power modules, housed in the new Vicor SM-ChiP package.
Satellite/ground infrastructure company SES commissioned the O3b mPOWER satellite from Boeing for use in the SES O3b broadband satellite network, a fleet of seven satellites that will provide broadband internet connectivity from medium Earth orbit.
According to information from Vicor, the modules in the SM-CHiP -- which the company says are able to power low-voltage ASICs of up to 300 watts from a 100 V nominal power source -- were tested by Boeing to be resilient to 50 krad of total ionizing dose and immune to single-event upsets, which was accomplished by using a redundant architecture, where two identical and parallel power trains with fault-tolerant control integrated circuits are housed in a single high-density SM-ChiP package. All of the modules are available in the Vicor high-density SM-ChiP package with BGA (ball grid array) connections and optional solder mask for the top and bottom surfaces, with operating temperatures between -30 °C to 125 °C.
