Fighting the inherent byproduct of ac-to-dc power conversion — heat — has always been a challenge for electronics design engineers. Today, that issue has grown exponentially with the seemingly contrary requirements for more power in smaller printed circuit board (PCB) or electronic device packages.

Higher demands for more computational capacity, with a requisite power increase, puts a disproportionate stress on power supplies. A doubling of load current actually quadruples the power loss (I2 R) of a power supply unit (PSU), increasing thermal output and the demand for more effective cooling solutions.