A Novel DC-DC Converter Module Using the integrated Package Solution (iPaS) Substrate for Next Generation High Performance Computing (HPC) Applications

A novel DC-DC converter module with low profile, good transient response and high efficiency has been developed by utilizing an extremely advanced substrate called integrated Package Solution (iPaS) with embedded capacitors specialized for power delivery network (PDN). This technology will contribute to the realization of next generation packaging technologies such as vertical power delivery (VPD) and will be the key to solving the issue of lower power consumption in the advanced high-performance computing (HPC) field.In this paper, the configuration of an iPaS substrate and a DC-DC converter module for VPD using it, and the voltage-droop and power efficiency of the demonstrated module will be described in detail. The module height is 5 mm or less, which is low enough to be mounted on the backside of the motherboard of an accelerator card for HPC. Using the low-impedance iPaS substrate of 1 mΩ at the frequency band of 1 MHz, almost same voltage-droop compared to that of general module has been achieved while reducing more than 60 % of SMD-type capacitors. Also, the voltage-droop is confirmed to be improved by 14 mV (10 %) in the case of not reducing SMD-type capacitors. This result reveals that the technology will be an effective solution for improving transient response of power supply module. It is also shown that the power supply efficiency can be improved more than 2 points by adding inductors to the space which is created by reducing SMD-type capacitors. This novel technology will be a solution for the power supply problem for next generation HPC and will enable evolution of information society.