Building block integration in Power Electronics

This paper accompanies an overview presentation at the ISIE 2010 Panel Session on “PEBB Concept in the Industrial Power Electronics Systems.” Therefore, the talk and the paper use the material that was previously presented by the author elsewhere, primarily in the invited papers at PCIM 2005, and CIPS 2008 and 2010. The presentation addresses possible directions for the improvement of power processing technology through advanced integration. The central focus is to advance the integration of electromagnetic power passives, EMI filters, control, sensing, and interconnect structures in the power converters, in addition to the integration of the power semiconductor switch assemblies. The fundamental functions in electronic power processing, the materials, processes, partitioning and integration approaches, multi-disciplinary design optimization, and future concepts are discussed.