A hot-swap solution for paralleled power modules by using current-sharing interface circuits

A hot swap of power modules is required by high-availability parallel power module systems. With the hot-swappable paralleled power modules, the system up-time can be maximized, the system maintenance and repair can be simplified, and the system upgrade can be allowed for. In this paper, a simple hot-swap solution is proposed for the paralleled power modules which use current-sharing (CS) interface circuits to do the CS work. By redesigning the basic function circuits of. the CS interface circuits [4] (such as the under voltage protection circuit, the current-sharing circuit, and the light load protection circuit etc.), an additional hot-swap function can be implemented "parasitically." There is no extra hot-swap controller and no compatibility problem between the hot-swap and CS solutions used. A prototype CS interface circuit with a "parasitic" hot-swap function was designed, implemented, and tested. The results show that the proposed hot-swap solution is feasible and suitable.