Page 14 - EngineerIT September 2022

ICT

Meeting 5G communication and

data centre demands with

advanced power management

technology

By Gary Sapia, director, power technology development and market expansion and Andrea Pizzutelli,
senior director of product applications in data centre equipment at Analog Devices

erched atop a 25 metre mast on the edge of the Mojave Across the advancing communications world, the most
Desert, a 5G radio transceiver is exposed to searing heat. challenging applications for today’s power electronics face
PThe smaller and lighter the radio components and the technical hurdles of size, weight and power (SWaP).
the more efficient the radio’s electronic systems, the Almost every application seems to be getting smaller
less heat they generate and the easier to keep the Lower noise and lighter while demanding more power. The
system cool and functioning. At a data centre systems require need to optimise SWaP is driving the power
spread out over 1000 acres, banks of servers are less shielding; electronics industry in many new ways. Power
executing millions of searches and high demand less shielding requires management technology is playing a significant
workloads to feed an ever-growing information less weight and role in the innovation of today’s data centre and
hungry world. The technology demands fast smaller size communication industry.
transitioning high currents, with very high power With sustainability and cost reduction as the
component densities that maximise efficiency to goal, technology leadership means higher system
rapidly deliver content. efficiency is the target. With more advanced process
technologies being used in communications systems comes lower
operational voltages and significantly increased currents, which
challenge system efficiency. Methodologies beyond pure silicon
development need to be considered for these next generation
systems. This is where ADI is poised to bring advances.

Improving wireless SWaP and efficiency

On the wireless side, the emphasis is on maximising power
density and getting to as small a solution as possible to reduce
the overall size of 5G applications or provide flexibility to
incorporate additional capabilities or functionality. Operating in a
smaller space translates to functioning more cost effectively and
more efficiently.

EngineerIT | September 2022 | 12