everything PE recently interviewed Olle Hellgren, Director of Marketing and Product Management at Flex Power Modules. Flex Power Modules specializes in designing and manufacturing high-performance power management solutions.
Q. Can you tell us about Flex Power Modules? When was the company founded and what was its objective?
Olle Hellgren: Flex Power Modules was established after Flex acquired Ericsson Power Modules in October 2017. Flex sought to expand its Power Solutions portfolio and the inclusion of board-mounted power modules complemented its already extensive line-up of AC/DC custom power solutions, including shelf and rack power supplies, making it an ideal addition.
The history of Power Modules itself stems from the early eighties when as a division of Ericsson we developed and marketed innovative power modules for the Distributed Power Architecture (DPA) marketplace, common in Telecom applications back then. The initial product packaged an impressive (at that time) 1 - 3 outputs at 25 - 40 W within a compact 3” x 3” (76 mm x 76 mm) module. In the intervening decades, we have continued to innovate, driving the adoption of technologies such as Synchronous Rectification, Digital Power, and Intermediate Bus Architectures (IBA) that are integral to today’s designs. With the subsequent acquisition of Anord Mardix in 2021, Flex is now able to offer a comprehensive range of data center requirements through a full suite of advanced manufacturing services with IT and power infrastructure solutions from grid to chip.
Q. Could you share some insights into your power electronics business? How has this area developed over time, and what role does it play within Flex?
Olle Hellgren: We provide a broad range of scalable, board-mounted DC-to-DC solutions that regulate the power consumption of CPU, GPU, and custom processors. Flex is a single source for two-step power conversion solutions and cutting-edge digital DC/DCs for AI and hyperscale applications. We have unique designs qualified to work with the latest GPUs. These DC/DC converters are embedded in the board to regulate power. Flex designs and manufactures an extensive array of voltage regulator modules (VRMs) and highly customized modules for vertical power delivery (VPD).
Our business has experienced steady growth since our inception, with a significant acceleration in recent years driven by the rapid expansion of the AI marketplace.
Q. Can you tell us about Flex’s engagement in the power electronics business, and how Flex Power Modules fit into that?
Olle Hellgren: The Flex power portfolio extends across the grid, facility, chips, shelves, and racks to deliver safe, reliable, and uninterrupted power from the power grid to the chip and vertically integrated racks in data centers.
We deliver a broad range of embedded power solutions from the grid to the chip (integrated circuit) and rack level, including AC/DC, racks, shelves, battery back-up, DC/DC, and critical power.
Flex’s power modules provide a broad range of scalable, board-mounted DC-to-DC solutions that regulate the power consumption of CPU, GPU, and custom processors.
Flex is a single source for two-step power conversion solutions and cutting-edge digital DC/DCs for AI and hyperscale applications. We have unique designs qualified to work with the latest GPUs.
Q. Can you tell us about the thermal management solutions of Flex Power Modules?
Olle Hellgren: Flex has over a decade of experience in liquid cooling, and we continue to invest in liquid cooling technologies to provide our customers with innovative power and cooling solutions that support their large-scale deployments of AI server clusters. This includes ongoing architectural advances to place point-of-load DC/DC converters as close to the power source as possible for greater power accuracy, efficiency, and latency. For most applications the traditional lateral placement of a converter alongside the processor on the printed circuit board (PCB) is effective, and forced air cooling works well with this design.
Q. Which industries benefit from Flex Power Modules' products? Which segment has been growing the fastest?
Olle Hellgren: As mentioned, the data center market, particularly in the areas of AI and Machine Learning, has been a primary source of growth in recent years, reflecting overall market trends. The other markets we are involved with are the Telecom and Networking sectors where we build on our strong legacy. These markets are typically influenced by cycles that align with the introduction of new radio generations. In recent years, we have also added a product portfolio to address the wide range of applications within the Industrial and Transportation markets.
Q. How do you differentiate your DC-DC converters from those offered by other manufacturers?
Olle Hellgren: The DC/DC marketplace is extremely competitive, making differentiation crucial to staying top of mind with our customers. We face competition not only from module manufacturers and packaged silicon solutions but also from discrete solutions. Therefore, our focus must be on delivering exceptional product performance whilst ensuring the highest quality standards. This includes designing products that operate safely with optimized components, employing the most optimal topologies and thermal management techniques, and also adhering to world-class manufacturing processes. Additionally, we offer an unrivaled capability to scale our operations and offer excellent customer support from initial concept through to volume production. Our customers seek more than just product suppliers – they need innovation partners with deep expertise in specific technology areas. We meet that need, offering support to customers no matter where they are located globally.
DC-DC Converters from Flex Power Modules
Q. Can you tell us about the various regulation techniques used in your DC-DC converters?
Olle Hellgren: Traditional regulation techniques are still widely employed on several products, but a few years ago we introduced a new approach which we termed hybrid regulation ratio (HRR). This technique brings together the benefits of fully regulated and essentially unregulated methods into one operation when used across a wide input voltage range. Below a pre-determined voltage, the converter operates in a region where the regulation setpoint follows the input voltage, offering higher efficiencies, higher power densities, and an acceptable regulation for many applications. In recent times, particularly in data center AI server applications where the 48/54 V supply voltage is supplied by a well-regulated, isolated AC/DC power supply, regulation at the board level is left to the point of load (POL) or voltage regulator modules (VRM) close to the load, and so unregulated non-isolated intermediate bus converters (IBCs) have become popular, which has meant we have been able to produce solutions with incredible power densities of up to 15kW/in3, such as the BMR316 series.
Diagram to show Hybrid Regulated Ratio operation
Q. How does Flex Power Module cater to artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT power considerations?
Olle Hellgren: As mentioned earlier, unregulated IBC solutions are the first step used by AI applications, where increasing the power delivered to these systems is vital. The power demands of GPUs are expected to increase from 700 W to 1500 W shortly, with short-term peak power requirements reaching up to three times that amount. At these power levels, the vast amount of current needed by the cores at sub-1V voltages necessitates new solutions for the second stage of power conversion. To address this, we have developed several lateral power delivery solutions in the form of the 2-phase VRM modules housed in a 10 x 9 mm package such as BMR510 and BMR511, as well as working closely with several key customers in the AI field to develop vertical power delivery solutions. These fit directly underneath the xPU they are feeding with ball grid arrays matched to the power islands of the processor. This design dramatically reduces the power distribution network (PDN) losses and enables much better transient performance, especially when coupled with TLVR VRM solutions. Of course, this approach also frees up valuable space on the top side of the customer’s board.
Flex Power Modules’ BMR510
Q. What are the key features of Flex Power Designer Tool and how does it enhance power converter design?
Olle Hellgren: Flex Power Designer has been with us since we first introduced digital POL solutions more than 10 years ago and has evolved since then into a powerful design software tool for customers. One of its key advantages is that it can also be used offline (without needing to connect to any modules) as it includes extensive simulation data. The tool allows users to rapidly select catalog products and virtually configure them into a system ‘power tree’, set input rails and loads, and then predict a wide range of performance results. Over the years, Flex Power Designer has been continuously enhanced to not only include prediction of basic performance, but also module and system efficiencies, power dissipation, temperature rises, output impedance, loop compensation effects, voltage excursions with transient loads, and more. Additionally, system functions such as sequencing and tracking, module paralleling, and phase-spreading can be specified and evaluated using the tool.
Q. Can you tell us about the thermal management solutions of Flex Power Modules?
Olle Hellgren: Thermal management, both at the module level and at the system level, is crucial in today’s applications where power levels are skyrocketing. Over the past decade, the available power capacity of a typical quarter brick DC/DC converter has increased from 400 W to 2 kW, while typical rack power levels have increased from 15 - 30 kW to 100 kW and beyond, with expectations of reaching 200 - 250 kW shortly. Even with today’s DC/DC modules operating at efficiencies over 98%, it is essential to design them in a way that directs dissipated power and heat to specific areas where they can be effectively managed by the system’s thermal management solutions. Traditionally, this was achieved with forced air cooling via fans, but now conduction cooling is increasingly necessary. This includes not only heatsinks but also liquid-based solutions such as direct-to-chip (D2C) cooling where a coolant is pumped through tubes connected to heavy copper plates directly to the xPU and associated power solutions. Additionally, full immersion cooling, where the entire server board is immersed in an inert liquid to remove the heat, is becoming more prevalent.
Q. Can you tell us about the Flex ESG strategy and the company's commitment to environmental sustainability in its operations?
Olle Hellgren: As a global industry leader, Flex has a responsibility to lead the way in sustainable business operations. The Flex ESG strategy is built upon many years of experience, but its effectiveness relies upon the buy-in and engagement from every level within the organization. Flex Power Modules, as a key business unit within the Flex organization, is fully committed to the execution of the corporate strategy and actively contributes to overall progress through its local “green team” drawing on the broader knowledge and expertise of the wider organization. Our website features several blogs on our overall corporate ESG strategy.
Q. How will Flex Power Modules leverage technological advancements to expand its market presence in 2025?
Olle Hellgren: The previous example given of quarter brick power levels in the past decade increasing five-fold illustrates how advances in components, control techniques, designs, and topologies can dramatically affect product performance. We will continue to innovate in the field of board-mounted DC/DC converters, including making use of the latest components and controllers and working even more in close partnership with our key suppliers of Field-Effect Transistors (FETs), Inductors, PCBs, and Controllers to drive and implement ever more innovative solutions for our customers. We will continue to engage with our customers’ designs earlier than ever before, ensuring we provide them with both standard and customized solutions that exceed their expectations and meet their ambitious goals.
About Olle Hellgren
Olle Hellgren is the Director of Marketing and Product Management at Flex Power Modules. Dedicated to developing the next generation of power modules to meet both market demands and customer requirements, Olle brings over 25 years of experience in the power technology sector, with a strong background in international business management. With a proven track record in managing budgets and overseeing the P&L of business portfolios, he is very experienced in developing new systems and strategies to drive business growth.
