Two Minute Drill

TRAINING
MicroSIP Series

Point-of-Load (POL) Converters

PowerSIP Series

VRM Series

SLIN Series

Bel Power - Two Minute Drill

From: Rob Greenberg Marketing
For: The technical sales representative and distribution product managers
In preparing this two minute drill, we tried to think of questions we would have if we were you and wanted to learn more about
the newest product from Bel Power Inc. We thought you might want to know:

What is a POL (point-of-load) converter?

The concept of point-of-load has revolutionized the power supply industry. The task at hand is
simple and is not new to supply load with a constant voltage that is largely independent of the
load current. The development of high-power chips and microprocessors that work at low voltages
of 3.3V, 2.7V, 2.5V and 1.8V has dramatically increased the problems associated with losses on the
supply lines. Microvolt losses that pose no problem in a 12V or 24V power supply may have dire

Vertical Mount SIP

consequences in a 1.8V supply.

These losses can be avoided using point-of-load or distributed-power architecture. Point-of-load converters especially developed
for this task have a very high performance density on a design footprint that is as compact as possible. As most of these converters
are non-isolated, the electrical isolation is left to a DC/DC converter fitted specifically for the purpose, which converts the voltage
from the supply to a uniform working voltage for all point-of-load converters, with which the point-of-load converters generate
the output voltages necessary for the components they serve.

Why would a customer specify one?

Their compact design allows the point-of-load converters to be placed as closely as possible to the components requiring the
voltage supply, or at the point of load. The total space needed for a circuit requiring four to five voltages can be reduced by
around 50% using point-of-load converters compared to separate DC/DC converters. Point-of-load converters require a small
space and have extremely high efficiency levels of over 95%, allowing a significant increase in component density and ever
decreasing design sizes for component groups requiring several different voltages.

508-870-9775
www.belpower.com
Rev2 01/29/2013
1 of 2

2013 Bel Power Inc.

Two Minute Drill

TRAINING
DigiSIP Series

Point-of-Load (POL) Converters

Power Block Series

SLIN Series

Bobcat Series

Bel Power - Two Minute Drill

What questions should I ask? What questions can I anticipate?
There are three primary questions that will need to be asked when specifying a non-isolated, point-of-load converter.
1. What is the input voltage range?
2. What is the maximum output current?
3. What is the maximum output power?
These specifications can be found in the
Product Selection Guide on the Bel Power web site
or in the back of the Bel Power Focus Catalog.

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508-870-9775
www.belpower.com
Rev2 01/29/2013
2 of 2

2013 Bel Power Inc.