Analysis of GaN Series Capacitor Buck converter in point-of-load aerospace applications

Abstract

Recently, atmospheric research has been increasingly conducted by both industry and universities by means of small spacecrafts, such as CubeSats, which offer an affordable cost due to the availability of the satellite inner components. Nowadays, nanosatellites include a huge variety of subsystems which require a substantial amount of computing power. Including such energy taxing components is a challenge on its own. In order to meet reasonable battery discharge rates, power converters for these devices have to meet requirements for both efficiency and reliability. In this research, a modified Series Capacitor Buck converter, that provides substantial benefits over traditional topologies, is proposed for point-of-load applications. This novel topology offers increased reliability for power systems feeding FPGAs and microprocessors inside spacecrafts. Simulation results validate the advantages of the proposed topology.