NXP Semiconductors NV launched its NextPower Live portfolio, a new family of linear mode Power MOSFETs designed specifically for use in 'hot-swap' environments. The NextPower Live family offers both excellent linear mode performance and a very low RDS(on) value, a unique combination demonstrating NXP's expertise in this area. Much of the infrastructure that runs its 24/7 online world - from cloud computing and mobile telephony to ATMs and traffic management - is made up of rack-based systems that are permanently live (switched on).

As such, the boards and components that drive these systems must be able to be "hot-swapped" to allow for upgrades and maintenance without ever needing to power down the equipment. NXP NextPower Live MOSFETs are designed to deliver optimum performance within such systems. In order to cope with the in-rush current when a replacement board is plugged into a live system, MOSFETs need to have a strong linear mode performance and a wide safe operating area (SOA) to protect against power surges; however, this has traditionally required the use of older generation MOSFETs with poor RDS(on) efficiency. The NXP NextPower Live family has overcome this problem, offering high linear mode performance to manage the power-up sequence while delivering very low levels of resistance once safely installed and in operation.

The NextPower Live portfolio incorporates 30V devices for applications such as blade servers operating on a 12V DC supply and 100V devices for telecommunications applications operating on a nominal 48V DC supply. Both voltage ranges come in D2PAK and LFPAK56 (Power-SO8 compatible) packages and are available now.