Inductors, high voltage… Which power components will solve engineers' design challenges?
-Integrating peripheral components with an inductor-integrated power module kills two birds with one stone.

Shin**: With my experience developing DC power supplies during optical fiber development, I believe this will be a valuable piece of test equipment, as there are many situations where compact, efficient components are needed. I hope it will be applied to control and drive devices.
Kim**: It seems like a good solution because it has a built-in inductor and can implement step-down with minimal components.
Lee**: Since it has a built-in inductor, we expect space savings, cost reduction, and reduced pumping noise.
Kim**: It seems like the DC/DC efficiency issues and noise issues caused by inductors will be resolved~~
Seo**: It's interesting that the inductor is built-in. It seems like only the maximum output current is indicated, but I'd like to know the minimum current.
Kim**: I'm looking forward to seeing the potential of this high-voltage DC-DC converter module with integrated inductors. I believe it offers clear advantages over existing DC-DC converters.
Park**: It looks good that the product is modular. The inductor design was difficult, but it seems easy to use because it is built-in.



What is the biggest concern engineers have when designing power supplies?

Comments from Maxim Integrated's recent DC-DC step-down power module event offer a glimpse into the concerns of current engineers. This is because it fully captures the power design challenges experienced by the engineers who participated in the event.

Through the event, engineers expressed their sympathy for the challenges of power design, including the difficulty of designing peripheral components that must be configured with DC-DC, issues with device size, stable output and heat generation, reliability, and selection of power devices that can be applied to various applications.

In particular, engineers who have expressed many concerns about the design of inductors, one of the most basic components of the power supply, have shown deep interest in Maxim's DC-DC step-down power module (MAXM17545).


Maxim's DC-DC step-down power module products are notable for integrating peripheral components, including inductors, to reduce component size while also improving efficiency.

Maxim Integrated's Ryu Je-pil, a senior manager, emphasized that using the MAXM17545 power module is "a way to minimize external components and achieve high-efficiency power."

A look at the existing power supply configuration reveals the integrated nature of the MAXM17545 power module. A traditional power stage includes input and output capacitors, external FETs, a power controller, various optional resistors and capacitors, and a large inductor. However, Maxim's power modules provide easy and flexible design features by reducing the number of components and module size.

While modules integrating external FETs still require separate peripheral components and inductors, Maxim's power modules require only simple resistors and input/output capacitors. They require only three to four peripheral components and offer a wide input voltage range of 4.5V to 42V.
Each component integrated in the Maxim power module includes a switching power controller, two MOSFETs, a compensation block, an inductor, and various optional values, all in a single package. The MAXM17504 EV kit supports input voltages from 4.5V to 60V, 0.9V to 12V, and 1.7A output.

This power module integrates multiple components, yet is compact (9mm x 15mm x 2.8mm) and features excellent thermal characteristics thanks to its SiP package. The minimization of heat generation issues is welcomed as it addresses another pressing concern for engineers.

“Maxim’s power modules come in 10 different configurations, from low voltage to high voltage, supporting a wide range of input and output requirements,” said Ryu Je-pil, vice president of Maxim. “These features can be leveraged for a variety of applications, including distributed power supply regulation, FPGA and DSP point-of-load (PoL) regulators, HVAC and building control, and industrial power supplies.”