A series-stacked architecture for high-efficiency data center power delivery

Josiah McClurg, Robert C.N. Pilawa-Podgurski, Pradeep S. Shenoy

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

As the number and power density of servers within today's data centers continues to increase, efficient power delivery is becoming a major industry concern. This paper proposes a series-connected power distribution architecture for data center server clusters, which decouples conversion losses from the total power delivered - allowing for conversion losses to remain relatively fixed, even as server power requirements increase. Voltage regulation of the servers within the cluster is achieved by the use of differential power processing hardware. This work also provides an experimental comparison between the fully-operational series-connected cluster implementation and the best-in-class commercial power distribution hardware - showing more than a five times reduction in conversion losses. The measured system-level efficiency for a best-in-class conventional power delivery architecture was 97.5%, and the measured system efficiency of the proposed architecture was 99.5%.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2014 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2014
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages170-177
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781479956982
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 11 2014
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

Name2014 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2014

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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