Table of variables and acronyms used in the book

Ae
BVDSS
B
BCM

Br
Bsat
CCM
CL

Clump
CrM
CTR
D or d
D or d

d2, d3
DT

D0
IL
ESR
ESL

fc
Fsw
Fline
G(s)
Gfc

m
gm
H
Hc
Ia, Ip and Ic
IC
Id
ID
Iin
Iin,rms or Iac
IL
Imag
Iout
Ip
Ipeak
Is
Ivalley
kD
kd
l, le, lm
lg
Lp
LHP

Lleak
Lmag
Lsec

the cross section area of a magnetic material.

the MOSFET drain-source breakdown voltage.
the induction flux density in a magnetic medium.
Borderline Conduction Mode (same as CrM) or Boundary Conduction Mode.
the remanent induction flux level when the magnetizing field is zero.
the induction flux density at which r drops to 1.
Continuous Conduction Mode.
Closed loop.
the total capacitance seen on a particular point of the circuit.
Critical conduction Mode.
Current Transfer Ratio for an optocoupler.
the converter duty cycle, also noted d1 in DCM analysis.
the duty cycle off time (d = 1 d).
the duty cycle off times in DCM: 1 = d1 + d2 + d3
the dead time between switching events.
the converter static duty-cycle during a bias-point analysis.
the peak to peak ripple current in the inductor.
Equivalent Series Resistor.
Equivalent Series Inductance.
the converter efficiency, Eta.
the crossover frequency where |T(fc)| = 0 dB.
the switching frequency.
the mains frequency.
the compensator frequency response.
the gain deficit (or excess) at the selected crossover frequency.
the flux in a magnetic medium.
the phase margin read at fc.
the transconductance of an Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA).
the magnetizing force.
the coercive field which brings the flux density back to zero.
the average currents flowing in or out of the PWM switch terminals.
the current inside a capacitor.
the diode current.
the MOSFET drain current.
the input current of a given converter.
the input rms current in a mains powered converter.
the current inside an inductor.
the magnetizing inductor current in a forward converter.
the output current of a given converter.
the primary current in a transformer-based converter.
the peak current in a given element.
the secondary current in a transformer-based converter.
the valley current in a given element.
the derating factor for the MOSFET BVDSS.
the derating factor for the diode VRRM.
the mean magnetic path length.
the gap length in a transformer.
the primary inductor of a transformer (usually in a flyback converter).
A zero (LHPZ) or a pole (LHPP) placed in the left portion in a s-plane plot.
the transformer total leakage inductance seen from the primary (all outputs
shorted).
the magnetizing inductance of a transformer (usually in a forward converter).
the secondary-side inductor of a transformer.

M
Mc
Mr
r
i
0
N
OL

Pcond
PF
PFC
Pout
PIV
PSW
Q
Qr
Qrr
QG
rCf
rLf
RDS(on)
RMS

Rsense or Ri
RHP

Sa or Se
Son or S1
SEPIC
SMPS
SPICE
Soff or S2

Sr
tc
td
ton
toff
tprop
trr
THD
TVS

T(s)
Tj
Tsw
Vac, Vcp
Vbulk
Vbulk,max or Vpeak
VC

the converter conversion ratio, Vout/Vin.

the ramp compensation level in a current mode converter (per Dr. Ridley
definition).
the ramp coefficient in current-mode designs (as a percentage of the off
slope).
the permeability of a material relative to that of free space.
the initial permeability describes the slope of the magnetization curve at the
origin.
the permeability of the air.
the turns ratio of a transformer normalized to its primary winding. For
instance, if Np = 10 and Ns = 3, then N = 0.3
open-loop, for instance a gain, a phase or an output impedance.
the conduction losses of an element implying a resistive path and a rms
current squared.
Power Factor.
Power Factor Correction.
the converter output power.
the Peak Inverse Voltage a diode has to sustain.
switching losses of an element implying an overlap area between a current
and voltage.
the quality coefficient of a filter or the quantity of electricity (Coulomb).
the charge the diode needs to evacuate before recovering its blocking
capabilities.
the total diode recovery charge.
the amount of Coulomb you need to bring to the MOSFET for its full
enhancement.
the series resistor of the capacitor, also noted the ESR.
the series resistor of the inductor, also noted the ESL.
the MOSFET drain-source resistance when turned on.
Root Mean Square.
the sense resistor in a current-mode converter. Sometimes called the burden
resistor.
Right Half Plane Zero (RHPZ) or Pole (RHPP), a zero or pole located in the
right portion in a s-plane plot.
the external compensation ramp.
the inductor slope during the on time.
Single Ended Primary Inductance Converter.
Switch Mode Power Supply.
Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis.
the inductor slope during the off time.
the externally-imposed blocking slope when blocking a diode.
the rectifying diode conduction time.
the bulk capacitor discharge time.
the time during which the power switch is turned on.
the time during which the power switch is turned off.
the propagation delay of the logic blocks in a controller.
the reverse recovery time of a diode.
the total harmonic distortion.
Transient Voltage Suppressor.
the compensated loop gain.
the junction temperature.
the switching period.
the average voltages across the PWM switch terminals.
the bulk voltage.
the bulk voltage at the highest line (the ripple is neglected in this case).
the voltage across a capacitor.

Vce(sat)
Vclamp
VDS
Vf
VGS
Vin
Vin,rms or Vac
VL
Vleak
Vmin or Vbulk,min
VOS
Vout
Vpeak
Vp
Vr
Vsense
Vripple
VRRM

the saturation voltage of a bipolar transistor.

the clamping voltage level.
the MOSFET drain-source voltage.
the diode forward drop.
the MOSFET gate-source voltage.
the input voltage of the converter.
the mains rms voltage.
the voltage across an inductor.
the voltage across the leakage inductance.
the bulk valley voltage, low-line only.
the voltage overshoot on the RCD clamp.
the output voltage.
the peak amplitude of sawtooth ramp in a voltage-mode PWM.
the peak undershoot voltage in response to a load step.
the secondary side voltage reflected on the primary side in a transformerbased converter.
the voltage developed across the sense resistor in a current-mode converter.
the peak-to-peak ripple voltage.
the diode maximum repetitive reverse voltage.
the Greek letter Zeta representative of the damping factor (often mixed with
- Xi).