IN Brief:
- Power Integrations has introduced two auxiliary PSU reference designs for 800VDC AI data-centre architectures.
- The 15W and 35W flyback designs use 1700V PowiGaN InnoMux-2 ICs for compact high-voltage conversion.
- Rack-level AI infrastructure is pushing auxiliary power design towards higher voltage, lower profile, and reduced component count.
Power Integrations has introduced two compact auxiliary power supply reference designs for NVIDIA Kyber 800VDC AI data-centre architectures, using integrated 1700V PowiGaN technology to reduce board area and component count.
The first design is a single-output 15W flyback auxiliary supply measuring 30mm by 30mm with a 7mm profile. The second is an isolated six-rail 35W design measuring 80mm by 60mm with an 8mm profile. Both target high-voltage AI data-centre systems where auxiliary rails must support monitoring, control, gate-drive, and housekeeping electronics without consuming excessive space on densely populated power distribution boards.
The designs are based on Power Integrations’ InnoMux-2 ICs with 1700V PowiGaN gallium-nitride technology. They support nominal input voltages up to 1000VDC in flyback configurations, providing voltage margin for 800VDC rack architectures. The reference designs achieve at least 88% efficiency across line and load, with the underlying architecture capable of flat efficiency close to 90% in discontinuous conduction mode.
Power Integrations expects the low-profile layouts to free around 30% of board space on main power distribution boards and reduce bill-of-materials count by an estimated 30% compared with alternative approaches. The reference designs are available as DER-1110, a 35W multi-output flyback auxiliary PSU, and DER-1114, a 15W single-output version, both using the IMX2353F device.
Auxiliary power is a small part of the rack power chain, but it becomes harder to treat as secondary when AI systems move to higher-voltage distribution. Control and protection electronics still require isolated low-voltage rails, even when the primary distribution bus rises sharply. Those rails power microcontrollers, op amps, gate drivers, sensing circuits, and supervisory functions that determine whether the wider system operates safely and predictably.
High-density AI infrastructure is already pushing electrical architecture beyond conventional data-centre assumptions. Siemens’ power architecture for NVIDIA AI centres connected distribution, storage, controls, and modular power blocks into a broader infrastructure framework. Power Integrations’ designs address the same transition at board level, where higher distribution voltages alter the requirements placed on even low-wattage converters.
The move towards 800VDC reduces current for a given power level, lowering distribution losses and copper demand in high-power environments. It also increases pressure around insulation, creepage, clearance, protection, servicing, and component selection. Auxiliary converters must remain compact, efficient, and reliable while operating close to switching stages and dense power electronics.
Integrated high-voltage GaN gives designers a route to reduce component count and physical volume in this part of the system. While SiC remains important in many high-power conversion stages, GaN can be attractive in auxiliary supplies where space, simplicity, and efficiency need to be balanced against cost and assembly complexity.
AI infrastructure is changing power-supply design at every level of the rack. As accelerator platforms raise system power and move towards new distribution voltages, auxiliary rails are being redesigned around the electrical architecture of the full system rather than treated as isolated support circuitry.
