Vicor Corporation

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Vicor Corporation

Type	Public (NYSE: VICR)
Founded	1981
Headquarters	Andover, MA
Key people	Patrizio Vinciarelli (Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer), Barry Kelleher (President - Brick Business Unit), Mark A. Glazer (Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary)
Industry	Diversified Electronics
Products	See article
Revenue	$ 179.35 million USD (2005)
Employees	1040 (2005)
Website	www.vicr.com

Vicor Corporation NYSE: VICR designs, manufactures and markets modular power components and complete power systems used primarily by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the communications, data processing, industrial controls, test equipment, medical and defense electronic markets. Built into virtually all electronic products, power systems convert electric power from a primary source – a wall outlet, for example – into low, stable voltages required by electronic circuits.

At the heart of Vicor’s product line are high density DC-DC converters that come in thousands of combinations of input voltage, output voltage, and power levels. Accessory components integrate other power system functions. Together, these products allow users to meet their unique power requirements by selection and interconnecting standard, modular parts. The benefits include rapid, flexible design of complete power systems at any power level; the high performance and reliability of Vicor’s field-proven technology; and low cost associated with automated component manufacture and simplified power system design.

Engineers use the combined advantages of Vicor component power to create compact, highly functional, economical products with streamlined development cycles that minimize time to market.

1 Products
2 Manufacturing Facilities
3 Customer and Sales Support
4 Headquarters
5 History
6 Acquisitions
7 Board Of Directors
8 Management
9 Other Locations
10 News and Investor Information
11 News And Events
12 External links

[edit] Products

As of October 2006, the "Vicor" product offerings include the following: AC-DC and DC-DC Component, FPA, Configurable and Custom Power Solutions

Component Power
- Inputs from 10-425 Vdc
- 25-600 W Output Power
- Chassis Mount Option
- AC Front Ends and Accessory Modules Available

Configurable Power
- Use Standard Components as Core Elements
- AC-DC and DC-DC
- Autoranging, Universal, 3-Phase and PFC Versions
- 50-4000 W Output Power
- Up to 20 Outputs

Custom Power
- Customized Component-based Power Solutions
- Quick Turnarounds
- Agency Approvals

New Products

[edit] Manufacturing Facilities

Vicor Headquarters - Andover, MA

Power components are manufactured using highly automated processes in Vicor's ISO 9001 registered facilities in Andover, MA. As a result, the products are quickly available, economically priced, and of consistent high quality.

[edit] Customer and Sales Support

In addition to an international network of sales representatives and distributors, Vicor maintains offices worldwide. Applications engineers based at these offices answer technical questions and travel the globe helping customers with component-based power system design. Vicor Express helps to minimize time to market by providing rapid delivery of selected Vicor products in prototype quantities.

[edit] Headquarters

25 Frontage Road Andover, MA 01810 USA +1-978-470-2900 (Phone)

Contact Vicor

[edit] History

Vicor Corporation, incorporated in 1981, designs, develops, manufactures and markets modular power converters, power system components and power systems using a patented, high-frequency power conversion technology designated zero current switching. Power systems are incorporated into virtually all electronic products, such as computers and telecommunications equipment to convert electric power from a primary source, for example a wall outlet or battery source, into the stable direct current (DC) voltages required by electronic circuits. In addition to component-level power converters, which serve as modular power system building blocks, Vicor also manufactures and sells complete configurable power systems, accessory products and custom power solutions. The Company sells it products primarily to the telecommunications, electronic data processing, industrial control and military electronics markets through a network of 30 independent sales representative organizations in North and South America and, internationally, through 42 independent distributors. Vicor also licenses certain rights to its technology in return for ongoing royalties.

Modular Power Converters Since 1998, Vicor has introduced four families of its second-generation of high-power density, component-level DC-DC converters. In 1998, the 48-volt input family was introduced, which was designed for the telecommunications market, as well as for distributed power systems. In 1999, this was followed by two additional families: a 300-volt input for offline (rectified 115 or 230 volts ac) and distributed power applications, and a 375-volt input specifically designed for use in power factor corrected systems. In 2001, a 24-volt input family was added to the standard second-generation product line to address additional telecommunications, industrial and defense market opportunities. The Vicor Design Assistance Computer was introduced for general use in 2000 and is a system, which enables the Company's customers to specify online, and verify in real time, the performance and attributes of second-generation DC-DC converters.

Configurable Products Most process control, information technology and industrial electronic products operate directly off of alternating current (AC) lines. Offline power systems require front-end circuitry to convert AC line voltage into DC voltage for the core converters. The Company's offline AC-DC products incorporate a set of modular front end subassemblies to offer a complete power solution from AC line input to highly regulated DC output. The product selection includes a low-profile modular design in various sizes and power levels, and a choice of alternatives to conventional box switchers. Voltage and power levels can be either factory or field configurable.

Many telecommunications, defense and transportation electronic products are powered from central DC sources (battery plants or generators). The Company's DC-DC power system choices include a low-profile modular design similar to the corresponding AC-DC system and a rugged, compact assembly for chassis-mounted, bulk power applications.

In February 2001, Vicor introduced the VIPAC family of power systems, a new class of user defined, modular power solutions. VIPAC is a new type of integrated power system leveraging the latest advances in second-generation DC-DC converter technology and modular front ends. The Web-based Vicor Computer Aided Design, similar in concept to VDAC, can be utilized by the customer to specify and verify, in real time, that customer's desired VIPAC configuration.

Factorized Power Architecture Products In April 2003, Vicor announced the introduction of a new power system architecture based on an array of power conversion technologies called Factorized Power Architecture (FPA). Factorized Power maximizes the competitiveness of a power system with a high degree of systems flexibility, power density, conversion efficiency, transient responsiveness, noise performance and reliability.

In May 2003, Vicor introduced the first family of products based on this technology, 48-volt to 12-volt Bus Converter Modules (BCM) for conventional Intermediate Bus Architecture applications. In July 2003, Vicor introduced its first VoI Chip Voltage Transformation Module (VTM). VTMs are designed to meet the demands of advanced digital signal processors, field programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits, processor cores and microprocessor applications at the point of load while providing isolation from input to output. In January 2004, Vicor announced the availability of the first members of its 48-volt Intermediate Bus Converter Modules (IBCs). The IBC family consists of 10 fixed-ratio standard models with nominal outputs from three to 48-volt DC delivering up to 100 amperes or 600 watts. Additional VTM and BCM products were introduced throughout 2004.

In 2005, the Company completed the matrix of 48-volt VoI Chips: the 36- to 75-volt input Pre-Regulator Module (PRM), which can operate from the wide DC input voltages normally encountered in telecommunications systems and the complete line of VTMs compatible with this PRM. In addition, several VoI Chip specialty products were designed for and delivered to specific customers for them to evaluate for use in potential applications where VoI Chips can enable significant market advantages. Prototypes of the first PRM for the military/defense COTS market were also delivered.

Accessory Power System Components Accessory power system components, used with the Company's component-level power converters, integrate other important functions of the power system, facilitating the design of complete power systems by interconnecting several modules. In general, accessory products are used to condition the inputs and outputs of Vicor's modular power components.

In 1998, Vicor doubled the power capability of its component-level AC front end, the VI-ARM (AC Rectifier Module). This front-end product includes a microcontroller that tracks the AC line to ensure correct operation for domestic or international line voltages. In addition, two accessory products for the 48-volt input second-generation family were introduced in 1999: the FiltMod for input filtering and the IAM48 for transient and spike protection. In 2005, the High-Boost HAM (Harmonic Attenuator Module) was introduced.

In 2002, the MicroRAM (Ripple Attenuator Module) (RAM) was introduced. This product performs a function similar to the VI-RAM product in a smaller package at a lower price. In 2003, Picor introduced two new families of products, the QPO (QuietPower-Output Ripple Attenuation SiP) and QPI (QuietPower-12 Amp Active EMI Filter for DC-DC Converters). The QPO performs a similar function to the ?RAM in a smaller, lower-cost surface mount package. Different QPO models allow customers to solve output noise problems. The QPI filters unwanted electro-magnetic interference (EMI) from the input supply bus. In 2004, the QPI product line was expanded to include products targeted at 24-volt industrial and military COTS voltage bus supplies. In 2005, Vicor introduced the QPI-8, a System-in-a-Package device designed to integrate the total hot-swap function with an active EMI filter.

Customer-Specific Products Vicor accepts a certain amount of custom power supply business. In most cases, the customer was unable to obtain a conventional solution that could achieve the desired level of performance in the available space. By utilizing its component-level power products as core elements in developing these products, the Company is able to meet the customer's needs with a reliable, high-power-density, total solution.

The Company competes with Lambda Electronics, Tyco International, Ltd., Artesyn Technologies, Astec Power, Power-One, Inc. and C&D Technologies, Inc.