Extended Smart-Link Quasi-Single-Stage 3-Phase AC-DC Power Supply Module for AI-Driving Data Centers

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), the demand for computational power has surged, placing data centers at the forefront of technological progress. This increasing need for computational resources has led to a corresponding rise in energy consumption, currently estimated between 450 and 650TWh/year and expected to reach 1000TWh/year, driven by the emergence of next-generation 2kW GPUs. Wide-bandgap (WBG) devices, including gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC), offer the potential for up to a 1% efficiency improvement in applications such as state-of-the-art two-stage ac-dc converters, which currently achieve efficiencies of up to 98%. This paper presents a novel three-phase quasi-single-stage isolated ac-dc topology leveraging partial power processing to precisely control the input ac current and output dc voltage, ensuring unity power factor under constant power load conditions, while maintaining LLC converter operation at its resonant frequency despite input voltage variations. The eXtended Smart-Link (XS-Link) integrates both voltage and current regulation across the two stages of ac-dc converters, effectively improving efficiency.