Analog and Power Semiconductors for 48V Architectures

Diodes Incorporated is exhibiting its expanding portfolio of analog and power semiconductors at electronica 2026 (Hall C6, Booth 211). The company’s active demonstrations focus on resolving power efficiency and control challenges in automotive, data center, and industrial systems. By showcasing practical implementations of 48V power conversion, motor control, and reverse battery protection, the exhibit provides engineering teams with hardware configurations that optimize system performance and manage thermal loads across the complete power and signal chain.

48V power conversion and distribution
As automotive and industrial sectors adopt 48V architectures to distribute power with lower current and reduced wiring mass, minimizing conversion losses is critical. The primary demonstration platform illustrates a complete power tree, initiating with a mains-to-48V conversion and subsequent step-down stages. The hardware steps the 48V input down to an intermediate 12V bus, which is further converted into 5V and 3.3V rails for low-voltage components. By measuring the current flow across these distinct stages, engineers can evaluate how specific semiconductor selections directly impact conversion efficiency and thermal management within high-power infrastructures.

Motor control and reverse battery protection
In addition to voltage regulation, the exhibit details motor control efficiency using Diodes’ analog and power discrete components integrated around a third-party microprocessor. This setup displays real-time operational efficiency metrics for industrial motor applications. A separate circuit protection module compares distinct reverse battery protection methods. It evaluates a conventional diode implementation against a high-efficiency configuration utilizing an ideal diode controller. This comparison allows designers to measure the trade-offs between component cost, forward voltage drop, and power dissipation, emphasizing the thermal advantages of the ideal diode approach in high-current paths.

Connectivity and signal chain integration
Supporting the high-bandwidth requirements of AI computing infrastructure and data centers, the portfolio spans beyond power conversion. The display encompasses PCI Express^® clock generation, ReDrivers™, and USB Type-C^® power delivery systems. Additional technologies include isolated gate driving, digital isolation, and Hall-effect sensing, demonstrating comprehensive integration capabilities for modern electronic environments.

"As power architectures become more complex, customers need solutions that improve efficiency across the complete system, not simply at the component level," states Emily Yang, SVP Sales & Marketing at Diodes Incorporated. "Our expanding portfolio helps engineers address conversion, control, and protection challenges across automotive, industrial, and data center applications."

Additional Context: 48V architecture adoption and thermal management
The automotive and data center industries are actively migrating to 48V power distribution networks to manage increasing electrical loads while mitigating cable weight and resistive copper losses. In traditional 12V systems, high-power compute racks or vehicle subsystems require massive currents, generating excess heat. Stepping the backbone up to 48V significantly reduces the required current, lowering thermal dissipation and improving overall efficiency. However, this transition introduces severe voltage transients and necessitates advanced step-down converters and robust overvoltage protection mechanisms. Ideal diode controllers are crucial in these setups, cleanly isolating loads during reverse polarity conditions while minimizing the voltage drops and thermal penalties associated with traditional diodes.

Edited by Lekshman Ramdas, InduPortals editor – adapted by AI.

www.diodes.com