When governments started looking for ways to save money and speed up development cycle time, they became interested in using commercially available products to satisfy their programme requirements. These type of products are known as commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS). Many times, these commercial products are insufficient for the rugged environments many military programmes encounter.
Based on a proven design heritage, VXR Series converters provide a cost-effective solution to the shortcomings of most COTS products. The VXR Series DC-DC converters have a wide input voltage range, high efficiency, and next-generation packaging. The VXR family is optimised for a broad range of applications from military ground vehicles, helicopters, military avionic systems, weapon systems, as well as commercial and military aircraft that endure harsh environments, including severe vibration, shock, and temperature cycling.
The VXR converters operate without derating over a wide temperature range from -55C° to 105C°. To withstand harsh environments, the V-Shield packaging is near hermetic. The VXR series also has a wide input voltage range with transient suppression capabilities, along with complementary EMI filters for MIL-STD-461 and DO-160 compliance. The series of products are lightweight and offer high power densities.
In comparison with other COTS type products, the VXR series offers higher reliability and performance product. From the beginning, the VXR series was designed to be a cost-effective solution in high-reliability applications compared with other COTS type products that may be upscreened commercial products.
The VXR Series converters use a low-noise, fixed frequency, wide-input voltage range topology with extended high and low input transient capability to simplify overall power system design and compliance. Precision-controlled synchronous rectification achieves high efficiency over a wide input range, reducing power dissipation and external heatsink requirements.
Additionally, a proprietary control loop design provides fast transient response without optoisolators. VPT’s patented epoxy encapsulated packaging is highly resistant to chemical, solvent, and salt environments, and is fully compatible with high-volume manufacturing processes, including wave solder, cleaning solvents, high-pressure sprays, and aqueous wash. A unique and integral metallised shield improves system EMI compatibility. Dual-sided cooling coupled with reduced power dissipation simplifies your system’s thermal design.
The COTS initiative helps to reduce cost by purchasing commercial off-the-shelf products. The problem is that many of these commercial-grade products are not suitable for high-reliability aerospace and defence applications. Also, commercial suppliers regularly obsolete products, which is not conducive for long-term defence programmes.
The VXR series of COTS products are much more reliable than commercial products while still being cost-effective. VPT does not obsolete products frequently as most of our customers are in the aerospace market and require a long-term, stable source of supply for their components. VPT products are suitable for many aerospace and military programmes with anticipated production runs of up to 20 years, ensuring a stable source of supply for the life of your programme.
