Power density vs reliability - the cost to the broadband network

While in theory the power requirement of telecommunications equipment is falling as the technology moves forward the reality is that for future high bandwidth applications, particularly in the high data rate mobile communications and broadband areas, the transmission and switching equipment used requires increasing levels of power. This combined with the increasing cost of space, relative reduction in size of the new generations of telecommunications equipment and of course increasing traffic levels means that the systems being used to power them are having to produce ever increasing power levels from ever decreasing volumes. Something has to give as a result This paper investigates how power densities have increased to meet the increasing demands from the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), but at what cost to the reliability of the system? The aim of this paper is to investigate how telecommunications power supply equipment has increased in power density over recent years, the consequential effect on reliability and suggestions as to how these can be addressed.