New Picor Hot Swap Controller Ensures Safe, Continuous System Operation With Advanced Digital Thermal Emulation

Innovative Cool-Swap PI2211 With True-SOA(TM) Feature Ensures Safe MOSFET Operation by Digitally Emulating MOSFET Transient Thermal Performance

APEC 2012 -- Vicor Corporation (NASDAQ: VICR), today unveiled its new Picor Cool-Swap™ PI2211 hot swap controller and circuit breaker (operating range: +0.9 to +14V), featuring Picor's advanced True-SOA™ and Glitch-Catcher technologies. The Picor Cool-Swap PI2211 provides superior backplane and system protection while reducing board space and design complexity.

The Cool-Swap PI2211's programmable True-SOA feature ensures safe, reliable operation at both the system and MOSFET level during both circuit card insertion and steady state operation. The True-SOA feature provides MOSFET protection in the most ideal way possible by emulating the transient thermal performance of the specific MOSFET in use. By emulating MOSFET thermal behavior and digitally calculating the MOSFET junction temperature rise using the MOSFET manufacturers' transient thermal impedance data, the Cool-Swap PI2211 can adapt its control, start-up and thermal cycling to the specific user-selected external N-channel MOSFET requirements, ensuring safe operating limits regardless of load and line conditions. Typical industry practice attempts this level of protection by simple timer-based constant power limiting which does not allow for MOSFET optimization and forces designers to oversize the MOSFET, increasing board area use and cost.

The Picor Cool-Swap PI2211, with its Glitch-Catcher voltage suppression technology, also mitigates the need for large external protection components by diminishing transient overshoot events and maintaining compliance with the specified voltage ratings. During a circuit breaker event, the PI2211's internal Glitch-Catcher voltage suppression circuit controls the MOSFET to act as an active snubber, passing potentially high inductive bus energy through the MOSFET to limit overvoltage exposure. By shunting the energy through the MOSFET to the low impedance load, the PI2211 not only eliminates the need for external protection components but further reduces overall cost and total solution size.

"Picor's Cool-Swap PI2211 with True-SOA and Glitch-Catcher technology provides the highest level of reliability to hot swap and circuit breaker applications within base station power distribution systems, server backplane systems and other 'live board' applications," said Robert Gendron, VP of Marketing and Business Development, Picor. "Digital emulation of a MOSFET's transient thermal performance ensures the best protection approach to hot swap control without increasing cost or design complexity."

Pricing and Availability
The PI2211 is available now and priced at $1.49 in OEM quantity. For a datasheet and other technical documentation, please visit www.vicorpower.com. To order, contact custserv@vicr.com or call 1-800-735-6200.

Picor Semiconductor Power Solutions
Picor provides high-performance silicon-centric solutions in power conversion and power management. Picor's silicon-centric products complement Vicor's power technology and maintain the Vicor tradition of product innovation and performance.

About Vicor Corporation
Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Vicor Corporation designs, manufactures and markets innovative, high performance modular power components, from bricks to semiconductor-centric solutions, to enable customers to efficiently convert and manage power from the wall plug to the point-of-load. Complementing an extensive portfolio of patented innovations in power conversion and power distribution with significant application development expertise, Vicor offers comprehensive product lines addressing a broad range of power conversion and management requirements across all power distribution architectures, including CPA, DPA, IBA, FPA and CBA. Vicor focuses on solutions for performance-critical applications in the following markets: enterprise and high performance computing, telecommunications and network infrastructure, industrial equipment and automation, vehicles and transportation and aerospace and defense electronics.

Picor, Cool-Swap, True-SOA, and Vicor are trademarks of Vicor Corporation.

Contact:

Iris Kimber
Vicor
978-749-3396
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