<div id="readability-page-1">The AI bandwagon has reached the power semiconductors’ doorstep, and that’s apparent from the Bloomberg report about Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) acquiring a startup specializing in integrated voltage regulators (IVRs) placed directly inside the processor package instead of being positioned beside the processor on the board.ADI is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire the privately-owned power management IC (PMIC) startup Empower Semiconductor for $1.5 billion, though both companies initially declined to comment on the news. Empower’s IVRs claim to deliver on-demand, scalable power with the speed, precision, and signal integrity required by AI processors.It’s a digitally configurable hardware platform that simplifies the adoption of DC/DC converters by having multiple power supplies in a single IC. While designers can simply place the chip on the PCB with no discrete components, the die can also be integrated into an AI accelerator package because it’s tiny and can be placed on the underside of the processor substrate.Empower, co-founded in 2014 by three analog design veterans, saw data centers as a low-hanging fruit for the company’s new power chip, an integrated voltage regulator (IVR), which either eliminates or integrates the discrete components to ease the years-long balancing act between power density and energy efficiency.In a typical PMIC solution, several discrete components make it slow, expensive, and large. That’s a problem because data centers are already reaching the limits of power consumption. Empower claims its power device replaces discrete-based, bulky PMICs while significantly reducing power loss and improving transient response.Empower’s IVRs eliminate all discrete components and make the chip configurable and programmable in a tiny form factor that can be placed anywhere in the system. IVRs accomplish this by eliminating magnetic components and multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). As a result, the entire package becomes three to five times smaller than an inductor used in a typical power delivery system.Empower, despite this power regulation solution for powering AI processors, isn’t alone in this pursuit of vertical or power-on-package designs for modern AI compute infrastructure. Power semiconductor suppliers such as Infineon, Monolithic Power Systems (MPS), and Vicor are also making significant inroads with design wins in hyperscale environments.Infineon has recently incorporated d-Matrix’s Corsair inference accelerator in its OptiMOS TDM2254xx dual-phase power modules to deliver sub-2 ms token latency required by interactive applications. Both MPS and Vicor are also making significant progress in providing cost-effective power management solutions for AI accelerators.ADI, while having accumulated conventional power rail and module assets through the acquisitions of Linear Technology and Maxim Integrated, falls short in power delivery solutions for GPUs and other AI accelerators. So, instead of building a power delivery architecture from scratch, it decided to buy one with a track record of reducing data center energy footprints and total cost of ownership.The Milpitas, California-based Empower has addressed a critical bottleneck in modern AI computing with a power management architecture that shrinks solution footprint, height, and component count. The news about its acquisition marks a triumph of the company’s laser focus on replacing board-level VMRs with a device co-packaged with SoC.The news about ADI acquiring Empower is also a stark reminder that power semiconductors are now as integral to AI accelerator performance as advanced packaging and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technologies. No wonder Empower’s senior managers called data centers a low-hanging fruit for their power-on-package solution.The Challenges of Powering Big AI ChipsIntegrated voltage regulator (IVR) for the AI eraWhy Data Centers Must Become System‑AwareRELATED TOPICS: DATA CENTERS, ICS, INTEGRATED VOLTAGE REGULATORS (IVRS), MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS, POWER MANAGEMENT ICS, PROCESSOR, SEMICONDUCTORS, STARTUPSCOMPANIES: ADI, ANALOG DEVICES, D-MATRIX, EMPOWER SEMICONDUCTOR, INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES, VICOR CORPORATIONMajeed Ahmad, Editor in Chief of EDN and Planet Analog, has covered electronics design industry for longer than two decades. During this period, he has worked in various editorial positions, including assignments for EE Times Asia and Electronic Products. He holds a Masters’ degree in telecommunication engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology. Follow Majeed on LinkedInYou must Register or Login to post a comment.This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.</div>

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Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Empower Semiconductor, a startup specializing in integrated voltage regulators (IVRs), for $1.5 billion. Empower's IVRs are designed to enhance power delivery for AI processors by integrating multiple power supplies into a single chip, significantly reducing size and improving efficiency. This acquisition highlights the growing importance of power management solutions in AI computing, as ADI aims to strengthen its position in the power semiconductor market.

ADI to Acquire IVR Tech to Join Data Center’s Power Gold Rush