Skip to main content

Aerospace and defense solutions

Vehicle-powered, portable digital radio

For this application, a new power solution is required to support a performance upgrade to an existing vehicle-mounted radio providing voice and data communications across the battlefield. Size, weight, and power are always critical parameters in vetronics applications, and in this case, the new peak RF output power requirement requires a well-regulated 48V at over 1kW, requiring an extremely dense power solution.

Vehicle-powered portable radio

The power delivery network

This PDN boosts the 28V bus to a regulated 48V with a MIL-COTS DCM3623 DC-DC converter module.  The regulated 48V from the DCM charges a large capacitor required to deliver the high peak power required by the RF stage. The low profile (7.62mm) of the thermally adept DCM facilitates a cooling solution utilizing an available cold wall, which along with the 800W/in3 DCM power density, further reduces the footprint of the PDN.  The high efficiency of the DCM reduces the waste heat and improves reliability, while its high frequency helps reduce the size of the EMI solution. 

Power Delivery Network for a vehicle-powered portable digital radio

DCM3623 DC-DC converter 

Input: 28V (16 – 50V) 

Output: 48V

Power: Up to 320W 

Peak efficiency: 93% 

38.7 x 22.8 x 7.26 mm

24g

Resources