TDK-Lambda UK
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What is Digital Power Management?
Digital Power Management (DPM) involves the external control and communications between power supplies (or converters) and a master controller. Currently, many analogue-based power solutions already have the ability to communicate with an external computer or controller via digital communications links (e.g., RS232, RS485, GPIB, or I2C bus).
Newer DPM control and communications formats have evolved that are designed to operate with the new digitally-controlled power devices. These include DPM technologies such as PMBus (Power Management Bus) and Z-One. Sadly, these technologies are not compatible or interchangeable. In fact, currently there are lawsuits between the backers of both of these technologies.
If I were a potential user of these Digital Power Management schemes, I would stay clear of them until the lawsuits are settled (expected to occur within the next 12 months), rather than find out later that the cost of these DPM ICs or controllers have substantially increased due to royalties that must now be paid to the company that won the lawsuit.
The potential advantages of the DPM and digital power technologies in general, include enhanced bidirectional communications, fault diagnostics, remote programming of the linked power supplies/converters, automatic compensation of dynamic input and output load changes, and overall improvements in efficiencies that relate to green-power.