Renesas Electronics is providing its gallium nitride (GaN) power conversion technology to support NVIDIA’s new 800 Volt Direct Current (DC) power architecture, a system set to underpin the next generation of high-performance AI data centres.
The Japanese semiconductor company said its GaN-based converters, MOSFETs, controllers, and drivers will help NVIDIA and its ecosystem partners develop more efficient, scalable power systems to manage the growing energy demands of GPU-driven AI workloads.
As data centres scale into multi-hundred-megawatt territory, NVIDIA’s 800V DC power distribution standard is designed to reduce energy losses and infrastructure costs. Renesas’s wide bandgap GaN components will be used by server, power supply, and rack system manufacturers building equipment compatible with NVIDIA’s design.
Renesas said its GaN-based DC/DC converters, which can operate between 48V and 400V and be stacked to reach 800V, achieve up to 98% efficiency using its LLC Direct Current Transformer (LLC DCX) topology. Its bi-directional GaN switches for AC/DC conversion simplify rectifier design and increase power density, while complementary REXFET MOSFETs, drivers, and controllers complete the system.
“AI is transforming industries at an unprecedented pace, and the power infrastructure must evolve just as quickly to meet the explosive power demands,” said Zaher Baidas, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Power at Renesas. “Renesas is helping power the future of AI with high-density energy solutions built for scale, supported by our full portfolio of GaN FETs, MOSFETs, controllers and drivers.”
Wide bandgap semiconductors such as GaN are gaining traction in large-scale computing infrastructure for their fast switching speeds, low energy losses, and superior thermal performance. The shift to 800V DC distribution within data centre racks promises to reduce copper usage and power losses, while maintaining compatibility with existing 48V components via step-down converters.
Renesas has released a white paper outlining its 800V power distribution approach for AI infrastructure. The company ships more than 1.5 billion power management integrated circuits each year, with growing demand from the computing and data centre sectors.
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