Infineon Technologies bought power-management specialist Primarion. Based in California, Primarion designs digital power ICs for computing, graphics and communication applications.

“Infineon will now be positioned to set the benchmark in system density, efficiency and control by combining the performance of Primarion’s digitally controlled power-management devices with Infineon’s leading power semiconductors portfolio,” said Peter Bauer, head of Infineon’s automotive, industrial and multimarket business group. “The addition of Primarion helps accelerate our access to the potential growth in the digital power segment by providing advanced system solutions for our customers. This investment is also a great complement to our power management activities based out of Villach in Austria.” ?Infineon claimed digital power is a fast-growing emerging market for ICs in power supplies and is replacing many of the existing analogue designs. Digital control makes it possible to adjust the power supply on the fly by adjusting key system parameters with advanced diagnostics, telemetry and non-linear control. This leads to increased density and reduced system cost through the removal of bulky output capacitors and the integration of many passive components required for tuning analogue circuits. According to a December 2007 report by market analyst firm iSuppli, an annual growth of approximately 50 per cent is expected from 2007 to 2011.

Image: Infineon aims to sell digital controllers into power supplies