Technical description – Vicor PFC MicroS Power Factor Corrected AC-DC Switcher User Manual
Page 5
03-000049 rev A
Vicor 800-735-6200 Westcor Division 408-522-5280 Applications Engineering 800-927-9474 Pg. 5
Technical Description
The PFC MicroS consists of an off-line single phase, power-factor-corrected front end, EMI filter, cooling fan,
customer interface, power supply control circuitry, associated housekeeping circuits, and a selection of Vicor’s
VI-200/VI-J00 and/or Maxi/Mini/Micro DC-DC converters.
Input AC mains voltage is applied to input connector MBJI. The input current is passed through an EMI filter
designed to meet conducted noise limit "A" specifications of FCC Part 15.
At start-up, inrush current is limited by a PTC thermistor. The PTC is shunted out shortly after initial power-up
by a DC bus voltage sense circuit driving a relay. After rectification, the input voltage is put through a boost con-
verter that keeps the AC input current sinusoidal and synchronized with the input AC voltage (in compliance with
EN61000). The boost converter delivers a regulated input to the hold-up capacitors and a high voltage back-
plane. The backplane supplies power to the DC-DC converters that provide the desired low voltage regulated out-
puts.
Output voltage conversion is achieved by Vicor’s family of Zero-Current-Switching (ZCS) DC-DC converters.
These are forward converters in which the main switching element switches at zero current. This patented topolo-
gy has a number of unique attributes: low switching losses; high frequency operation, resulting in reduced size
for magnetics and capacitors; excellent line and load regulation; wide adjustment range for output; low EMI/RFI
emission and high efficiencies.
At initial power-up, the PFC MicroS outputs are disabled to limit the inrush current and to allow the DC bus
potential to settle out to the correct operating level. A low-power flyback converter converts the high voltage DC
bus into regulated low voltage to power the internal housekeeping circuits and DC cooling fan.
The internal housekeeping Vcc comes up within 1 s after the application of input power. Once the high voltage
bus is within operating limits, the AC Power OK signal asserts to a TTL "1," indicating the input power is OK,
and the power outputs will come up 250 ms later.
An output Enable/Disable function is provided to control Vicor’s DC-DC converters. If the Enable/Disable con-
trol pin is pulled low, the modules output is disabled. The nominal delay associated for an output to come up
when measured from release of the Enable/Disable pin is 9-12 ms. The General Shutdown function controls all
outputs simultaneously and works in a similar manner.
PFC MicroS Design Guide
Figure 1. PFC MicroS Architecture
Line Filter
Bridge
Rectifier
Soft Start
Circuit
Boost Converter
PFC Control
Power Supply
Control
Output Card #1
Fan
Isolated
Housekeeping
Power Supply
Customer
Interface
Power
Output
Input
Enable/Disable -Power Good Read