NSREC: GaN transistors in PSU design for space AI processor

Working with AMD, Renesas has created a power supply design, using radiation-tolerant ICs and GaN power devices, for an AMD space-grade ‘Versal adaptive SoC’ – the XQRVC1902, a processor with 400 AI inferencing tiles, dual Arm Cortex-A72 cores, dual Cortex-R5F cores, programmable logic and memory.

Renesas AMD ISLVERSALDEMO2Z space psu design

“ISLVERSALDEMO2Z integrates key radiation-hardened components for power management,” said Renesas. “These ICs are designed to support power rails for next-generation space avionics systems, withstanding the harsh environment of space.” Electronics Weekly has requested the radiation tolerance specification of the whole design.

How is GaN being accepted in space?

“Power GaN fets are flying in space right now, mostly in applications that have a three to five year mission life,” Renesas told Electronics Weekly. “Customers have been evaluating it for 15-20 year missions for the past couple of years, which should take flight within a few years if not sooner.”

A notable power need in the AMD IC is 800mV at 140A.

The design as-is can deliver up to 100A at 800mV through four 25Arms phases using two ISL73847SEH PWM controllers, four ISL73041SEH GaN gate drivers and 12x ISL70020SEH 40V GaN HEMTs.

It can be modified to deliver 140A peaks, and for continuous 140A delivery “Renesas recommends using a separate PCB design to accommodate more GaN FETs in parallel, and increase the number of PCB layers to handle the extra current”, it said.

The design needs to be supplied with 12V, and a PCB is available for the 100A version – with the core power rail components taking up 104cm². Schematics, bill-of-materials and PCB Gerber files can also be obtained.

See the design on Renesas’ stand (112/113) at NSREC, the IEEE Nuclear & Space Radiation Effects Conference over 24-28 July in Kansas City, or look at the ISLVERSALDEMO2Z product page right now.