Fueling the Data Deluge: XtremeSense™ TMR Technology for High-Performance Data Centers
As an increasing number of today’s technologies become connected to the Internet, more information flows than ever before. With personal cellular devices, cars, computers, and more becoming part of the Internet of Things (IoT), this data must be processed as it travels from various points along its journey, with data centers at the heart of this function. Processing is a major contributor to power consumption in data centers. Computing the deluge of data requires several servers which all use increasingly intense amounts of power to accomplish their task. However, these processing power requirements are minor compared to the needs of burgeoning AI technology with the use of GPUs, which is slowly but steadily becoming the main driver of power consumption.
As they are currently designed, AI systems generate prompt-based content requested by users. The systems constantly crawl the internet for data to provide answers and results. The problem is the amount of processing power it takes to train and the high levels of efficiency needed for that alone. More power is needed to train larger scale models—that’s just how it is known to be today. With AI poised to explode in usage over the next decade, data centers will require their systems to run at a high efficiency.
For data centers, the crux of workload management is their systems' ability to operate at peak efficiency. Power supplies are undoubtedly a critical component to the success and efficiency of modern data center systems. A steady but significant power usage increase—as is often seen with both the expansion of connected devices and the use of AI-focused systems—generates a large amount of heat and potential for power losses. So designers are continually looking for the most advanced solutions to help keep robustness and efficiency to a maximum and temperature to a minimum. Another major requirement that is especially important at large scale is cost management. Reliability is certainly worth the cost in many applications, but with so many isolated power supply components being added to data centers, it’s simply not feasible to use high-cost solutions at scale. As such, there is a new focus on creating power supply solutions that are affordable when looking at mass-volume production.
With everything moving at breakneck speed, power supply designs require components that can handle the pace. This requires high-performance power to support high speed switching. To support the fast switching that allows isolated power supplies to achieve higher efficiency, designers need a high-bandwidth solution. Furthermore, whichever part is chosen must retain resolution and accuracy, especially when faced with incredible swings in temperature. Finally, the current sensors must not only have longevity in their accuracy over their lifetime but also must have longevity for the lifetime of the system. This means that data centers are expected to run smoothly for several years.
Allegro MicroSystems has several current sensor solutions uniquely positioned to remedy these concerns. Specifically, our XtremeSenseTM TMR technology is the ideal solution to handle the challenges faced in data centers. The high-bandwidth, fast-response, ultra-low noise, integrated contact current sensors deliver highly accurate current measurements for power applications. Our TMR technology solutions for data centers directly sense the flow of current through the sensor package; this method provides designers with highly accurate measurements. XtremeSense TMR technology is built with a focus on high-power architectures to provide designers with higher power density solutions that are an ideal component for their needs.
TMR technology is perfectly positioned to handle engineers’ concerns surrounding data center applications, especially as they look for cost-effective solutions that work to help with power supply needs at large scale. This is—thanks in no small part—due to their ultra-fast response time, high accuracy, and low noise, ability to withstand fluctuations in temperature and resist interference. To learn more about our innovative TMR technology solutions, visit our XtremeSense webpage and read our whitepaper.