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DCDC for RF Equipment

Competitiveness & Growth
STATUS | Ongoing
STATUS DATE | 07/12/2010
ACTIVITY CODE |

PAGE CONTENTS

Objectives

Other than the general technical goals the main objectives of this R&D project are to develop, test and qualify DC/DC converters for RF equipment which will:

  • Be flexible with respect to the application and platform interfaces,
  • Be compatible with all orbits : GEO Telecom, other potential applications on LEO or MEO orbits,
  • Have significantly lower cost than our actual solution of LPLC plus external circuitry, or than competitors such as EMS (a Canadian Company) or others offer,
  • Meet the volume and mass constraints (reduced with respect to our actual LPLC based solution,
  • Meet the efficiency targets despite the requirement for series regulators on a large number of outputs (very low output noise constraints),
  • Ensure simple mechanical and thermal interfaces despite the relatively high power losses and associated dissipative components.

The RF application serving as a basis for this project was that of a transponder for which 2 types of DCDC converter, differing mainly in power level (33W and 7W) are required as indicated by the following diagram:


click for larger image

The general constraints are, however, applicable to most RF equipment.

Challenges

The key issues solved by the project are:

  1. Compatibility with a wide input voltage range (20V to 50V) and a wide range of input bus EMC constraints, i.e. multi-platform,
  2. High regulation precision for up to 5 output voltages from a single converter,
  3. Very low output ripple and noise requirements, e.g. 2mVrms on certain outputs,
  4. Sequencing between the negative voltage and 2 or 3 of the other, positive, outputs,
  5. Good efficiency, particularly for the Rx converter which operates continuously, often in a low power mode (2W),
  6. Integrated solution,
  7. Competitive cost.

Plan

The following activities were foreseen:

  1. Design, development and analysis of 2 separate DCDC’s characterised notably by 2 different output power levels: one for a RF transmitter (Tx / 33W) and one for a RF receptor (Rx / 7W),
  2. Manufacturing of 2 EQM’s, 1 Tx DCDC and 1 Rx DCDC,
  3. Qualification testing of the 2 EQM’s: functional, performance, EMC, vibration, mechanical shock, thermal vacuum and humidity tests.

All activities have been successfully completed.

 

Current Status

All activities are completed. The qualification of the 2 EQM’s was completed on the 4th December 2009. The TRB/DRB was held on the 09/02/2010.