Vicor unveils power-sharing devices

Engineers at Vicor Corp. in Andover, Mass., are introducing new power supplies with power-sharing architectures designed for redundant systems. In the N+M architecture, one module is elected the master at startup, while other modules synchronize to the master, based on high-speed signals that move through an input-side digital bus. This setup monitors the system on a pulse-by-pulse basis. If the master fails, another module is elected master and the system continues without interruption. A fault-tolerant interface is available in a 28-pin DIP, which includes the necessary isolation capacitors for as many as 12 modules. For more information, contact Vicor by phone at 508-470-2900, by fax at 508-475-6715, or on the World wide Web at http://www.vicr.com/. - J.K.