MaxLinear has added two 16 V, high-current electronic fuse (eFuse) ICs to its AI infrastructure portfolio: the MxL745950 and the MxL745951P. The parts target power-path protection, monitoring, and fault isolation in systems where rack power density and power-domain complexity are rising, including AI servers, accelerator trays, data center switches, fan trays, power shelves, plug-in modules, and rack-scale platforms.
The MxL745950 is a 16 V, 50 A eFuse with 1 mΩ on-resistance in a 5 mm × 5 mm LGA-32 package. It integrates current sensing, temperature monitoring, fault indication, programmable soft-start, and support for parallel operation to reach higher current levels in applications such as servers, networking systems, and plug-in modules.
The MxL745951P steps up to 60 A per device at 16 V and is designed to be stackable, with 0.79 mΩ on-resistance. It adds PMBus/I²C interface support, configurable protection thresholds, non-volatile fault recording, and active current balancing during both start-up and steady-state operation. Telemetry exported over the digital interface includes input voltage, input current, input energy, output voltage, output current, input power, and output power. MaxLinear lists ±1% current monitoring accuracy for the part, along with NVM-based custom configuration storage.
For data center engineers, the feature mix is pointed at serviceability as much as protection. As AI platforms move toward rack-scale integration, isolating a failing subsystem quickly matters because power faults can cascade into wider platform downtime. Having black-box-style fault records and per-rail telemetry can shorten root-cause analysis, but it also adds another device class that needs to be integrated into the platform’s control plane and validated under real hot-plug and inrush conditions.
“Our new eFuse solutions extend MaxLinear’s role across AI servers, accelerator trays, switches, fan trays, power shelves, and rack-level platforms by helping customers build more observable, serviceable, and resilient power architectures,” said Amit D. Bavisi, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and General Manager, Analog Mixed-Signal Business Unit at MaxLinear.
MaxLinear said both devices are sampling now, with volume production expected in Q4 2026.
Source: MaxLinear
