More on R&D
Dr. Frank Liang, FSP's R&D assistant VP, was kind enough to sit and have a chat about their technology development, the specific RD teams for PSU product development and more.
Each RD team, from RD1 to RD8 (no RD4, reader guesses why), has a 'topology' (the PSU basis technology) that it uses to create designs. RD1 and RD8 are the PC development teams and they use half-bridge and forward/2-forward topologies respectively. All three are switching convertors to get an input supply feed into an output supply suitable for the devices it's powering.
RD8 uses the forward/2-forward (the number telling you how many switches it uses), using the first for < 300W supplies and the dual-switch 2-forward topology for higher output supplies ranging from 300W all the way up to multi-kilowatt output, all in a PC supply.
And it's advances in 2-forward technology that Dr. Liang is currently investigating, in order to take FSP's PC supplies to new levels. Currently they're operating with technology that approaches 8W/in³, with every new supply meeting the US '80plus' spec for efficiency, where output power is made at at least 80% efficiency on loads over 20%.
Dr. Liang explains that it's most difficult to built a low output supply with high efficiency, since a 20% load on 250W maximum output power is just 50W.
He's looking to pair 2-forward with new resonant feedback technology to create the next generation of high-output, high-effiency supplies that the market wants. It seemingly wants 1 kilowatt or more of output power, largely driven by the ever more insane needs of a high-end graphics configuration, and the market is increasingly sensitive to efficiency.
You pay for your electricity, and I -- and FSP -- assume you want to get what you pay for to reduce waste as heat and allow the supplier upstream to not waste any more than they have to, too, to get you what your mains-riding devices want. So the goal is high efficiency, converting as much of the input supply to useful output power as possible.
Frank says that the new resonant LC technology can be combined with advances in PSU packaging technology and layout to create high output supplies in the space constraints of the ATX and BTX form factors, for PCs, as well as in 'custom' form factors like Booster X3.
In addition to the new resonant LC works, FSP are increasingly looking towards ASIC use inside the PSU, to remove the need for bulky components that take up too much space, generate too much heat and block airflow. And FSP aren't scared, in the retail space, of using them even if they increase cost. That market will suffer a few more pounds passed on from component choice and engineering if the end product is good enough.
And they'll increasingly take relevant technology from RD9 and RD7, who look after FSP's LCD TV business, into the PC space for use by RD8.
The introduction of the resonant LC technology will gain them just 2 or 3% efficiency, but combined with a nearly 100% efficient 2-forward core (inside the half-bridge) and things like zero voltage switching will see RD1, RD2 and RD8 with a new topology base to work from in Q3 this year. And it's after Q3 that you'll see FSP really have a go at the desktop retail market currently dominated by the likes of Tagan, Thermaltake et al.