A high efficiency high density voltage regulator design providing VR 12.0 compliant power to a microprocessor directly from a 48V input

This paper describes a design which performs a Voltage Regulator function per the VR12.0 specification and provides a microprocessor core voltage rail directly from an unregulated 48V input. Details including experimental results will be provided concerning the architecture and topologies used in this design, as well as the contribution of these elements to increases in efficiency (23% less losses), reduction in the amount of capacitance (33% less capacitance) required at the microprocessor socket for transient performance and voltage ripple filtering, and overall reduction in the voltage regulator footprint (45% smaller) compared to a conventional approach.