Research Projects

Dynamic power management (DPM) is essential to save dynamic power, yet to meet deadlines while powering ever-increasing industrial IoT applications. However, existing standalone DPM methods are not scalable and often ignore electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues and thermal constraints under varying environmental conditions. This proposal is aimed at developing high-frequency GaN-based scalable digital DPM architectures that can be directly interfaced to the universal 48V DC bus and can support a wide voltage range from 1V to 24V for IoT applications. Further objectives are to develop high performance digital control for distributed DPM with optimal sequencing for fast response, high efficiency, reduced EMI problems, and small footprint. Novel thermal management and on-demand cooling techniques for these systems will be investigated to keep the device and system temperatures under the prescribed limits under varying operating and ambient conditions. This is a unique proposal in developing a scalable dynamic power/thermal co-design framework.