-
Innoscience Technology firmly denounces the accusations made by Infineon Technologies Austria AG in a recent patent infringement lawsuit against three Innoscience entities. Infineon filed this lawsuit in a U.S. district court in California on March 13, 2024, and asserted a single U.S. patent.
Innoscience denies Infineon’s allegations of patent infringement as well as the validity of the Infineon patent. Innoscience will vigorously defend itself and is confident that it will prevail. Infineon’s intention with this litigation is also in question, as it has asserted a patent that has significant defects. Particularly, even a cursory review of Infineon’s patent portfolio reveals that the alleged “invention” of the asserted patent was already disclosed in Infineon’s own earlier prior art patents, raising concerns that it may have committed fraud on the United States Patent and Trademark Office, for not making proper disclosures during the prosecution of the asserted defective patent.
In addition, contrary to Infineon’s wrong characterization that the claims of the asserted defective patent “cover core aspects of GaN power semiconductors,” the lawsuit only concerns a small fraction of Innoscience’s packaged high-voltage (650V-700V) GaN transistors and does not affect the vast majority of its other products (including unpackaged transistors and wafers, low-voltage transistors, and certain packaged transistors).
Therefore, the lawsuit should have little to no effect on Innoscience’s current ability to make, use, sell, offer to sell, or import into the United States its products for customers. Innoscience respects others’ valid IP rights and is also dedicated to developing its own IP portfolio. Despite being an eight-year old company, Innoscience has filed more than 800 patent applications globally. Innoscience’s R&D team boasts 500+ technical experts across the world.
Through continuing innovation, Innoscience has produced GaN devices to power a diverse range of products, from power delivery chargers to data centers and smartphones, showcasing its ability to align with evolving application demands and adapt to diverse customer specifications.
Moreover, Innoscience has always sought a cooperative and mutually beneficial approach to develop the global GaN industry, even among others in the same industry. Innoscience intends to prevail in this pending lawsuit and is determined to remain a trusted and reliable partner for its customers and contribute to their success by offering top-notch and versatile products and solutions based on Innoscience’s home-grown, superior technologies.
Original – Innoscience Technology
-
EPC announces the availability of the EPC9193, a 3-phase BLDC motor drive inverter using the EPC2619 eGaN® FET. The EPC9193 operates with a wide input DC voltage ranging from 14 V and 65 V and has two configurations – a standard unit and a high current version:
- The EPC9193 standard reference design uses a single FET for each switch position and can deliver up to 30 ARMS maximum output current.
- A high current configuration version of the reference design, the EPC9193HC, uses two paralleled FETs per switch position with the ability to deliver up to 60 Apk (42 ARMS) maximum output current.
Both versions of the EPC9193 contain all the necessary critical function circuits to support a complete motor drive inverter including gate drivers, regulated auxiliary power rails for housekeeping supplies, voltage, and temperature sense, accurate current sense, and protection functions. The EPC9193 boards measure just 130 mm x 100 mm (including connector).
Major benefits of a GaN-based motor drive are exhibited with these reference design boards, including lower distortion for lower acoustic noise, lower current ripple for reduced magnetic loss, and lower torque ripple for improved precision. The extremely small size of this inverter allows integration into the motor housing resulting in the lowest EMI, highest density, and lowest weight.
EPC provides full demonstration kits, which include interface boards that connect the inverter board to the controller board development tool for fast prototyping that reduce design cycle times.
“GaN-based inverters enhance motor efficiency and lower costs, expensive silicon MOSFET inverters”, said Alex Lidow, CEO of EPC. “This results in smaller, lighter, quieter motors with increased torque, range, and precision.”
Original – Efficient Power Conversion
-
Teledyne e2v HiRel announced the availability of radiation tolerant RF and Power products for the evolving New Space market. Qualified based on the EEE-INST-002 space grade standard, these plastic packaged products are qualified for the harsh environment of space with –55°C to +125°C temperature operating ratings, and are radiation tolerant for use in LEO, MEO, and GEO missions.
The RF products include several low noise amplifiers (LNA) and are ideal for demanding high-reliability space applications where low noise figure, minimal power consumption, and small footprint are critical to mission success. They are ideally suited for satellite communication systems that are increasing the power of radio signals so utilizing components with minimal noise and distortion help minimizing the degradation of digital signals.
These LNAs are developed in the radiation tolerant pHEMT technology semiconductor process technology. The monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) products are available in dual-flat no lead (DFN) plastic over molded SMT packages and are biased over single positive VDD supply voltages, eliminating the need for negative power rail voltages.
- The TDLNA002093SEP delivers a low noise figure of less than 0.37 dB, IDDQ from 30 mA to 100mA, and exceptional performance from 1 GHz (L-band) to 6 GHz (S-band) frequencies.
- The TDLNA0430SEP delivers an industry leading low noise figure of less than 0.35 dB, IDDQ of 60mA and exceptional performance from 0.3 GHz (UHF) to 3 GHz (S-band) frequencies.
- The TDLNA2050SEP delivers an industry leading low noise figure of less than 0.4 dB, IDDQ of 60mA and exceptional performance from 2.0 GHz (S-band) to 5 GHz (C-band) frequencies.
The Power products offerings include Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology High Electron Mobility Transistors up to 650V, currents up to 90 Amp, high switching frequencies, and low RDSON. These GaN solutions have easy gate-drive requirements and enable high power density designs with four times less space requirements than traditional MOSFETs. The TDG650E60xSP parts are available in extremely small non hermetic packages with either top-side and bottom-side thermal pads and are ideally suited for satellite power supply systems with space production screening.
“Today we’re announcing our New Space products offering of RF and Power products optimized for space applications,” said Mont Taylor, Vice President and Business Development Manager at Teledyne e2v HiRel. “These LNAs with their ultra low noise figures coupled with the high power density capabilities of GaN transistors, we believe these products will enable system designers with superior solutions for space based satellite communication applications.”Original – Teledyne e2v HiRel
-
Infineon Technologies AG filed a lawsuit, through its subsidiary Infineon Technologies Austria AG, against Innoscience (Zhuhai) Technology Company, Ltd., and Innoscience America, Inc. and affiliates. Infineon is seeking permanent injunction for infringement of a United States patent relating to gallium nitride (GaN) technology owned by Infineon.
The patent claims cover core aspects of GaN power semiconductors encompassing innovations that enable the reliability and performance of Infineon’s proprietary GaN devices. The lawsuit was filed in the district court of the Northern District of California.
Infineon alleges that Innoscience infringes the Infineon patent mentioned above by making, using, selling, offering to sell and/or importing into the United States various products, including GaN transistors for numerous applications, within automotive, data centers, solar, motor drives, consumer electronics, and related products used in automotive, industrial, and commercial applications.
“The production of gallium nitride power transistors requires completely new semiconductor designs and processes”, said Adam White, President of Infineon’s Power & Sensor Systems Division. “With nearly two decades of GaN experience, Infineon can guarantee the outstanding quality required for the highest performance in the respective end products. We vigorously protect our intellectual property and thus act in the interest of all customers and end users.”
Infineon has been investing in R&D, product development and the manufacturing expertise related to GaN technology for decades. Infineon continues to defend its intellectual property and protect its investments.
On 24 October 2023, Infineon announced the closing of the acquisition of GaN Systems Inc., becoming a leading GaN power house and further expanding its leading position in power semiconductors.
Infineon leads the industry with its GaN patent portfolio, comprising around 350 patent families. Market analysts expect the GaN revenue for power applications to grow by 49% CAGR to approx. US$2 billion by 2028 (source: Yole, Power SiC and GaN Compound Semiconductor Market Monitor Q4 2023). Gallium nitride is a wide bandgap semiconductor with superior switching performance that allows smaller size, higher efficiency and lower-cost power systems.
Original – Infineon Technologies
-
Navitas Semiconductor announced its participation in the forthcoming 2024 Asia Charging Expo (ACE) in Shenzhen, China, from March 20th to 22nd, 2024. Visitors will explore the latest advances in GaN and SiC toward a fully-electrified “Planet Navitas” and the transition from fossil fuels.
Navitas will introduce the latest GaNFast™ and GeneSiC™ products to the audience in China for the first time, including: GaNSense™ half-bridge power ICs with application-specific features and higher power ratings, Gen-3 Fast SiC power FETs for high-power and higher-speed performance, and the world’s most protected GaN power devices – GaNSafe™.
Teaming up with UGREEN, Navitas will showcase a variety of UGREEN fast chargers featuring GaNFast power ICs, including the adorable and popular 30W and 65W Nexode Robot chargers, 100W Nexode Magsafe Charger Stand, and high-power 300W Nexode 5-port Desktop Charging Station. Many more GaNFast™ chargers will be displayed for visitors to experience the lightning speed of GaNFast charging.
Ye Hu, Navitas’ Technical Marketing Manager, will deliver a keynote presentation titled “A New Chapter in GaN: Navitas’ Integrated Drive and Loss-less Current Sensing GaNSense™ Half-bridge Solution” as part of the exposition’s World GaN Conference on March 22nd.
ACE 2024 will be held at Hall 6, Futian Convention and Exhibition Center, Shenzhen, China from March 20th to 22nd. Visitors to “Planet Navitas” (booth B57-B60) will meet experienced Navitas engineers to explore the power of next-gen power semiconductors for leading-edge applications. Navitas sales and distribution partners will also provide on-site support.
“The Asia Charging Expo is a critical event in the power electronics industry – gathering key experts from mobile, EV and industrial companies – and we are delighted to be part of it again to present our latest GaN and SiC technology,” said Charles Zha, VP and GM of Navitas China. “Our latest, advanced GaNFast and GeneSiC technologies bring revolutionary fast-charging capabilities to industry-leading Chinese customers.”
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
-
EPC announced the publication of its Phase-16 Reliability Report, documenting continued work using test-to-fail methodology and adding specific guidelines for overvoltage specifications and improving thermo-mechanical reliability.
Compared to the Phase 15 Reliability Report, this version presents expanded data and analysis. It now includes a general overview of the wear-out mechanisms of primary concerns for a given application. New to this version of the report, is a description of how to forecast the reliability of a system in a realistic mission profile that combines periods of substantial and minor stress.
Adding to the existing knowledge base, this report includes significant new material on the thermo-mechanical wear-out mechanisms and overvoltage guidelines. Thermo-mechanical wear-out mechanisms include a study of the impact of die size and bump shape on temperature cycling (TC) reliability. This report also includes a study of overvoltage robustness for both the gate and the drain of GaN transistors.
This report is divided into the following sections:
- Section 1: Determining wear-out mechanisms using test-to-fail methodology.
- Section 2: Using test-to-fail results to predict device lifetime in a system.
- Section 3: Wear-out mechanisms
- Section 4: Mission-specific reliability predictions including solar, DC-DC, and lidar applications.
- Section 5: Summary and conclusions
- Appendix: Solder stencil design rules for reliable assembly of PQFN packaged devices
According to Dr. Alex Lidow, CEO and co-founder of EPC, “The release of our Phase-16 report satisfies a critical need for ongoing research into GaN device reliability. This report provides valuable insights on mission robustness, ensuring devices meet the demands of diverse applications.”
Original – Efficient Power Conversion
-
Navitas Semiconductor announced their AI data center technology roadmap for up to 3x power increase to support similar exponential growth in AI power demands expected in just the next 12-18 months.
Traditional CPUs require typically only 300W and the data center ac/dc power supplies would typically power the equivalent of 10 of these or 3,000W (3kW). High-performance AI processors like NVIDIA’s ‘Grace Hopper’ H100 are already demanding 700W each today, with next-gen ‘Blackwell’ B100 & B200 chips anticipated to increase to 1,000W or more by next year.
To meet this exponential power increase, Navitas is developing server power platforms which rapidly increase from 3kW to up to 10kW. In August 2023, Navitas introduced a 3.2kW data center power platform utilizing latest GaN technology enabling over 100W/in3 and over 96.5% efficiency. Now, Navitas is releasing a 4.5kW platform enabled by a combination of GaN and SiC to push densities over 130W/in3 and efficiencies over 97%. These two platforms have already generated significant market interest with over 20 data center customer projects in development expected to drive millions in GaN or SiC revenues starting this year.
Today, Navitas also announces its plans to introduce an 8-10kW power platform by the end of 2024 to support 2025 AI power requirements. The platform will utilize newer GaN and SiC technologies and further advances in architecture to set all-new industry standards in power density, efficiency and time-to-market. Navitas is already engaged with major data-center customers, with full platform launch anticipated in Q4 ’24, completing this 3x increase in power demands in only 12-18 months.
Navitas’ unique data-center design center is creating these system designs to address the dramatic increases in AI data center power requirements, and assist customers to deploy platforms quickly and effectively to meet the accelerated time-to-market demands of rapid AI advances. System designs include complete design collateral with fully-tested hardware, schematics, bill-of-materials, layout, simulation and hardware test results to maximize first-time-right designs and fast revenue generation.
“The rapid development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) into global data centers has created a dramatic and unexpected power challenge for our entire industry,” noted Gene Sheridan, Navitas’ CEO and Co-Founder. “Our investment in leading-edge GaN and SiC technologies, combined with our unique data-center design center capabilities, have positioned us well. Our team has really stepped up to the challenge, with a 3x power increase in less than 18 months.”
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
-
Wise-integration, a French pioneer in digital control of gallium nitride (GaN) and GaN ICs for power supplies, announced financing of €15 million. The Series B round wasled by imec.xpand, with participation from Supernova Invest, BNP Paribas Developpement, Région Sud Investissement (RSI), Creazur, CASRA Capital and Angels for Greentech.
The round will fuel mass production and commercial deployment of the company’s flagship products, WiseGan® and WiseWare®, its disruptive digital-control technology, and its support for clients globally as they adopt these solutions. It included the five investors from the previous funding and three new investors.
CEO Thierry Bouchet said, “The €15 million of new funding will accelerate the company’sinternational expansion, ongoing R&D programs and the introduction of new products and solutions. “This funding will enable Wise-integration to accelerate our commercial development and product development and the launch of a new generation of high-performance GaN technology, which is designed to seamlessly integrate with digital controls and boost the efficiency and performance of power systems across various sectors,” Bouchet continued. “A third roadmap focus will be to broaden our WiseWare® product development, targeting high-value markets, such as industrial, telecom and automotive sectors.”
Since its launch in 2020, the fabless company has established itself as an award-winning innovator in the power electronics industry, building a portfolio of more than 10 patent families. WiseGan® encompasses GaN power integrated circuits designed to maximize the benefits of GaN technology, including higher power density, efficiency and reduced heat generation. WiseWare® is a 32-bit, MCUbased, AC-DC digital controller optimized for GaN-based power supply architectures, offering simplified system design, a lower bill of materials and improved power density and efficiency.
The company’s target markets include consumer electronics, from laptops to e-bikes, scooters and motorcycles, to industrial applications like robotics, as well as data centers and electric vehicles. All its solutions address the increasing demands for miniaturization, electrification and efficient power management.
Wise-integration has established a first-class semiconductor GaN supply chain to support its mass production and commercialization strategy, while ensuring the most competitive costs in the market.
“Wise-integration’s GaN technology can play a significant role in the global shift to electrification by enhancing the efficiency and performance of power systems across various sectors,” said Cyril Vančura, imec.xpand partner. “In the four years since its founding, this start-up has demonstrated the vision, drive, execution and technological knowhow to deliver game-changing power-electronics solutions, and we look forward to witnessing the next phase of its growth journey.”
“With this new funding, Supernova Invest reaffirms its support for Wise-integration, a CEA-Leti spinoff that we have trusted since its creation,” said Damien Bretegnier, investment director, Supernova Invest. “We strongly believe in the huge potential of its WiseWare® digital control technology and associated WiseGan® components, anticipating a profound revolution in the power conversion market that propels GaN technology to replace legacy solutions even more rapidly.”
“Wise-integration is one of the finest up and-coming companies in the hardware sector, a key sector in our beautiful region,” said Pierre Joubert, general director of RSI. “A high-potential company with a top management team, it fits in perfectly with the investment thesis of our Transition fund and its 100 percent Paris Agreement strategy. It has all the assets to become one of the strong links in the regional economic development strategy.”
Original – Wise-integration
-
Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD) is addressing higher power industrial applications with its ICeGaN™ technology which has already proved itself rugged, reliable and easy-to-use in high volume consumer devices. At the APEC 2024, IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, the company is introducing new reference designs and showing demos which address the broad and diverse industrial market.
Andrea Bricconi | Chief Commercial Officer, CGD
“We are acutely aware of the increasing power requirements of industrial applications, and the need for high efficiency. For example, as the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) proliferates, the power demanded by the exponential growth in power demanded by datacentres is growing almost exponentially. Other applications, such as solar inverters, amplifiers, transport and smart mobility, process control and manufacturing are also interested in GaN and the feedback we have received is that they love the simplicity of our ‘Drive it Like a MOSFET’ approach.”
At APEC, visitors to the booth are able to see the progress that CGD is making to support both emerging and existing markets for GaN technology..
With a high power density of 23 W/in3, GGD’s 350 W PFC/LLC reference design has an average efficiency of 93%, and a no-load power consumption of 150 mW. The CrM Totem Pole PFC + Half-Bridge LLC PSU has been realised using CGD’s 650 V, 55 mΩ, H2 series ICeGaN technology, and delivers 20 V / 17.5 A output.
The result of a partnership deal struck last year with Neways Electronics, a 3 kW photo-voltaic inverter is used to boost the DC solar voltage to a stable DC link voltage. With a maximum efficiency of 99.22% due to zero-current switching, it is a perfect example of how CGD’s GaN HEMT structure is simple for engineers to use, since it employs a standard silicon controller from Analog Devices Inc.
ICeGaN has been employed by AGD Productions in its compact AGD DUET amplifier which is rated at 300W 4Ω. This is the first time the company has used a 100% GaN power transistor design for both the power stage and the amplifier.
Finally, the GaNext project, a consortium of 13 partners from three nations has delivered compact 1 kW intelligent power modules featuring integrated drive, voltage control and protection circuits using CGD’s ICeGaN.
Original – Cambridge GaN Devices
-
Power Integrations announced the InnoMux™-2 family of single-stage, independently regulated multi-output offline power-supply ICs. InnoMux-2 ICs consolidate AC-DC and downstream DC-DC conversion stages into a single chip, providing up to three independently regulated outputs for use in white goods, industrial systems, displays and other applications requiring multiple voltages.
Elimination of separate DC-DC stages slashes component count, reduces PCB footprint and increases efficiency by as much as 10 percentage points compared to traditional two-stage architectures. Efficiency is aided by the ICs’ 750 V PowiGaN™ gallium-nitride transistors, zero-voltage switching (without an active clamp) and synchronous rectification.
Roland Saint-Pierre, vice president of product development at Power Integrations said: “Most modern electronic systems rely on multiple internal voltages to operate various functions such as computing, communication and actuation function – typically heat, light, sound or motion of some kind. But losses in each conversion stage are compounded, degrading system performance and generating heat.
The InnoMux-2 IC overcomes this challenge by providing up to three independently regulated voltage outputs or two voltage output and a constant current output from a single stage, achieving a compact and efficient power sub-system with low component count.”
InnoMux-2 ICs deliver up to 90 watts of output power with accurate regulation of better than ±3 percent across the full input line, load, temperature and differential current step conditions. Total power system efficiency (AC to regulated low-voltage DC segment) is above 90 percent; the advanced InnoMux-2 controller also manages light-load power delivery, avoiding the need for pre-load resistors and reducing no-load consumption to less than 30 mW. This conserves power for necessary functionality in applications subject to the 300 mW allowance for standby usage under the European energy-using product (EuP) regulations.
InnoMux-2 devices leverage Power Integrations’ thermally efficient InSOP™24 and InSOP™28 packages with PCB cooling, so no heatsink is required. Device options include dual- and three-output constant voltage (CV); optionally, one output may be dedicated to constant current (CC) drive, suitable for powering LEDs in displays or for high-speed charging of an internal battery. Typical applications include TVs, monitors, appliances, networking, home and building automation, LED emergency lighting and industrial power supplies.
Original – Power Integrations
