Power, step by step
POWCOMA designs high-reliability power electronics hardware for the most demanding environments: space, defense, and safety-critical embedded systems.
Services
From concept to qualification, we support your hardware projects in the most demanding sectors.
Magnetics built into the board
High-density PCB design with integrated magnetic components (planar inductors and transformers), compliant with current industry standards. Optimized placement and routing with export files compatible with thermal and electrical simulation tools.
GaN converters, from specification
Custom DC/DC and AC/DC converter development from specification. GaN transistors for unmatched performance. Power stage and EMC filter optimization. Static and dynamic performance prediction (losses, bandwidth, stability). Designed in compliance with MIL-STD and ECSS reliability standards.
Electrical, magnetic, thermal
Electrical simulations (SPICE) and full converter modeling. 3D magnetic FEA simulations for planar component integration into PCBs. PCB parameter extraction (parasitic capacitance/inductance). Transient and steady-state thermal simulations for board-level performance estimation.
Designed for end of life
Discrete analog control and regulation design. Radiation-hardened control with lifetime performance prediction through end-of-life analysis (aging, radiation, temperature). Innovative control schemes enabling modern converter topologies (LLC/FSBB/FBPS). Digital control integration available.
From the bench to the DJD
In-house prototype characterization. EMC pre-compliance, static/dynamic performance, thermal performance, temperature testing, and custom test bench setup for integration into your environment. Custom characterization benches for SEE/TID validation. Full documentation deliverables (DJD, WCA, PSA, FMEA...).
An independent second look
Independent design reviews. Support for performance and reliability analysis. Guidance throughout the entire design and testing phases. Associated documentation deliverables.
Products
GaN conversion blocks for space and defense power chains, and instrumentation for industry. Same analog work, same measurement discipline.
LLC DC Transformer
A fixed-ratio isolated bus converter, self-oscillating at resonance: ZVS on the primary side, ZCS on the secondary.
Four-Switch Buck-Boost
A ZVS four-switch buck-boost that holds the intermediate bus, so the DCX downstream can stay locked at its resonant point.
Servo-Valve Current Transducer
Converts the ±10 V set-point of a PLC into coil current for an electro-hydraulic servo-valve.
Achievements
Innovative converter based on distributed FSBB (Four Switches Buck Boost) and LLC architecture using GaN transistors in power stages. Vin 21–37 V, 5 V (25 W), 12 V (150 W), 28 V (28 W), TMI, OCP, OVP, UVD.
Fractional power processing design delivering a regulated and isolated 1 V 50 A output from a 100 V regulated bus (ACQR Flyback + Matrix LLC converter). Using GaN components and custom planar magnetic cores.
Part stress analysis on a complex design to quantify stress levels on each component of a PPU. Associated documentation deliverables.
About
We work with satellite integrators and space agencies to develop customized systems that meet complex requirements for constrained environments. Our work covers system performance optimization, design justification, and comprehensive testing and validation. We are able to design, assemble, and test complete systems at our facilities located in Marseille and Paris (France).
Research
What we learn on a program does not stay in the drawer: design methods, finite-element work and measured results, co-authored with our partners.
The power module of ESA’s Advanced Data Handling Architecture: a single 6U board carrying a nominal and a redundant 203 W chain, each cascading a GaN four-switch buck-boost pre-regulator at 292 kHz with an LLC cell operated as a DC transformer at resonance — no digital controller. Switching timings measured over 223 operating points are confronted with the recomputed optima; measured efficiency reaches 92.1 % at ambient. A second part details the planar-magnetics architecture prepared for the qualification model.
The complete design flow of a PCB-integrated inductor for a 200 W, 21–37 V four-switch buck-boost switching at 450 kHz. The air gap is opened on one face only — a single-sided compensating fringing-field variant — and its placement is fixed by a parametric 2-D finite-element map that keeps Rac/Rdc below 1.20. Dowell copper losses and MagNet-Hub core losses drive the sizing under a 2 W budget: three turns wound as four parallel sets on a twelve-layer board, 11.3 × 11.3 × 6.5 mm.
Design, optimization and validation of a planar transformer for a 203 W multi-output LLC converter (36 V input, 12 V and 30 V outputs). Windings are assigned to PCB layers so as to minimize the stored leakage energy — an objective that cannot be a single scalar in a multi-output structure, and is therefore posed on the full leakage matrix of the four-winding assembly. Combines MMF shaping, interleaving optimization, 2-D extraction of winding resistances and inter-winding capacitance, and 3-D finite-element validation on an ER32 core.
Trusted by
Working alongside leading space and defense organizations.
Get in touch
A space program, a defense system, an out-of-spec environmental constraint? Every challenge has a POWCOMA solution.
