Reinventing DC-DC Downconversion by Teaching Charge Pumps New Tricks

March 23, 2022

Murata's Steve Allen talks about the technology behind the UltraCP MYC0409.

This video is part of our APEC 2022 coverage.

Charge pumps have been simple, useful tools for voltage conversion, but they have also had their attendant downsides, including low efficiency and high EMI levels. Here at 2022, Murata has upended those assumptions with a new charge pump architecture that's embodied in a small but growing product family of devices providing compact, highly efficient voltage division for a variety of applications. In this exclusive from-the-show-floor interview, Murata's VP of power products explains the technology and some of its application.

I spoke with Vice President of Power at Murata about the company's technology and the new UltraCP MYC0409. The MYC0409 is 48-V, divide-by-4 charge pump capacitor divider in a fully integrated module. It can deliver up to 72 W of power with peak efficiency of 97%. The device can be connected in parallel to provide high-power, high-efficiency solutions suitable for a variety of 48-V to 12-V step-downconversion applications such as networking routers, base stations, data centers, and optical equipment.

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About the Author

Lee Goldberg | Contributing Editor

Lee Goldberg is a self-identified “Recovering Engineer,” Maker/Hacker, Green-Tech Maven, Aviator, Gadfly, and Geek Dad. He spent the first 18 years of his career helping design microprocessors, embedded systems, renewable energy applications, and the occasional interplanetary spacecraft. After trading his ‘scope and soldering iron for a keyboard and a second career as a tech journalist, he’s spent the next two decades at several print and online engineering publications.

Lee’s current focus is power electronics, especially the technologies involved with energy efficiency, energy management, and renewable energy. This dovetails with his coverage of sustainable technologies and various environmental and social issues within the engineering community that he began in 1996. Lee also covers 3D printers, open-source hardware, and other Maker/Hacker technologies.

Lee holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Thomas Edison College, and participated in a colloquium on technology, society, and the environment at Goddard College’s Institute for Social Ecology. His book, “Green Electronics/Green Bottom Line - A Commonsense Guide To Environmentally Responsible Engineering and Management,” was published by Newnes Press.

Lee, his wife Catherine, and his daughter Anwyn currently reside in the outskirts of Princeton N.J., where they masquerade as a typical suburban family.

Lee also writes the regular PowerBites series.