Original URL: http://www.ciscoworldmagazine.com/monthly/2000/01/brickpow.shtml

"Quarter-Brick" Power Converter Features 20-Amp Current Rate

Broadband TelCom Power. (formerly BTC Power Electronics Corp.) has introduced the QMT-100, described as the world's first "quarter-brick" DC-to-DC power converter with a full 30-amp current capacity. "The new quarter-brick is replacing the half-brick for many applications that have size limitations but require high power," said James Lau, president of Broadband TelCom Power. "We are the first manufacturer to produce a quarter-brick with 30-amp current capacity, so we have effectively created a new standard for high current density in quarter-brick packages."
Weighing only 75 grams, the dimensions of the QMT-100 Series converters are 1.45 x 2.28 x 0.50 inches. Output levels include 2.5, 3.3, 5 and 12 volts with power levels of 100 watts. Lau said the 2.5-volt and 3.3-volt, 30-amp models are the most powerful quarter-bricks in the industry. The QMT-100 also features under voltage lockout, output over voltage and output over current protection, output trimming, output over temperature as short circuit protection and remote sensing.
The key to Broadband TelCom Power's converters is the patented Flat Transformer Technology. While conventional transformer technology utilizes a single core with multiple windings to achieve a voltage step-down ratio, Flat Transfer technology uses multiple cores with single windings. The new quarter-brick series features four 6-mm cores, which enable the high, 30-amp current density. "Everyone else's quarter-bricks have fewer or larger cores, which get too hot at 30-amp output," said Lau. Broadband TelCom Power converters exceed Mil Std 217 E specifications (700,000 hours) with a calculated MTBF in the tens of millions of hours. They are also UL, CSA, TUV and CE approved.

This article appears in the January 2000 issue of Cisco World.