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Power Supply Tutorial- SMPS

SWITCH MODE POWER SUPPLY TUTORIAL

BLOCK DIAGRAM and BASIC THEORY OF OPERATION
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This may sound like a silly question, but what are power supplies doing?

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Well, here are their main functions:

Changing the form of electric power. For example, electricity from the
grid is transmitted in the form of AC, while electronic circuits need DC;
Regulation. Mains voltage varies worldwide from 100 to 240VAC and
is usually poorly regulated, while the circuits normally require well
stabilized low-level fixed voltages;
Safety isolation. In most applications the outputs have to be isolated
from the input.

Practically

every

piece

power conversion.

of electronic equipment needs

Power supply unit (PSU), technically

some

form of

speaking, is a

device that transfers electric energy from a source to a load and in the
process changes

its characteristics to meet specific requirements. Of

course, this term is not the most adequate. A PSU does not really supply
power, it only converts it. Its typical application is to convert a utility's AC
into required regulated DC rail(s). Depending on the mode of operation of
the semiconductors, the converters can be linear or switching.

SMPS

stands for switch mode PSU. In such a device, power handling

electronic components are continuously

high frequency in

switching "on" and "off" with

order to provide the transfer of electric energy via

energy storage components (inductors and capacitors). By varying duty

FIND POWER
SUPPLY
PRODUCTS BY
SPEC

cycle, frequency or a relative phase of these transitions an average value

of output voltage or current is controlled. The operating frequency range
of commercial SMPS units varies typically from 50 kHz to several MHz

see more on frequency selection).

Below is a conceptual circuit diagram of a typical off-line SMPS. This

tutorial will introduce you to its operation.

DESIGN BASICS
AC power first passes through fuses and a line filter. Then it is rectified
by a full-wave bridge rectifier. The rectified voltage is next applied to the
power factor correction (PFC) pre-regulator followed by the downstream
DC-DC converter(s).
Note that except for PCs and CompactPCI systems, PSU output connectors and pinouts in general are not
standardized and are left up to the manufacturers.

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F1 and F2 shown on the left of the circuit diagram are fuses. Everybody knows about them, but many people are under
impression that a fuse blow immediately once applied current exceeds its rating. If that was true, no PSU would
function because of momentary "in-rush" currents. In reality, a fuse is designed to physically open the circuit when the
current being drawn through it exceeds its rating for a certain period of time. This clearing time depends on the degree
of overload and is a function of

I2t. Due to this delay, fuses will not always protect electronic components from a

catastrophic failure caused by some fault conditions. Their main purpose is to protect the upstream line from
overloading and overheating, avoid tripping of an external circuit breaker, and prevent a fire that may be triggered by
components that failed into a short circuit.
The low-pass EMI filter is designed to reduce high frequency currents getting into the AC line to an acceptable level.
This is necessary to prevent interference on the other devices connected to the same electrical wiring. There is a
number of standards (such as EN55022 for Information Technology equipment) that govern the maximum level of EMI.
The filter is followed by the rectifier that converts bipolar AC waveforms to unipolar pulsating ones. It has four diodes in
a bridge arrangement to provide the same polarity of the output for both polarities of the input.

PFC regulator. The rectified input voltage is fed into the next stage,
whose prime purpose is to increase power factor (PF). By definition, PF
is the ratio between watts and volt-amps. In the process, the PFC preregulator usually boosts the voltage to 370-400 VDC. There are also
designs where "boost" DC-link follows the peak of input AC voltage
instead of being fixed, or where a buck converter is used instead of a
boost.

There are two main types of power factor correction circuits- active and
passive. Below is a block-diagram of an active PFC stage. Here is how it
works. A controller monitors both the voltage across sense resistor and

Vboost. While regulating Vboost, it controls at the same time the shape
of the input current, so that it is in phase with mains AC and repeats its
waveform. Without this, the current would be delivered to the SMPS in
short high level pulses, which have a high harmonic content. The
harmonics do not supply any real energy to the load, but cause additional heating in the wiring and distribution
equipment. They also reduce the maximum wattage that can be taken from a standard wall outlet, since circuit breakers
are rated by electric current rather than by watts. There are various

regulations that limit the input harmonic content,

such as EN61000-3-2 (for equipment connected to public low-voltage distribution systems) or DO-160 (for airborne
equipment). To meet these requirements you can use a PF correction technique: a device with a high PF draws a
nearly sinusoidal current from the source (at a sinusoidal input). This automatically results in low harmonic content.
Currently there are no mandatory international standards that specifically regulate the PF of an electronic equipment,
but there are various national and industry standards as well as voluntary incentive programs. For example, 80 PLUS
and Energy Star programs require computers to demonstrate PF
factor correction in this

>0.9 at rated load. You can read about active power

PFC guide.

The above standards also specify minimum efficiency of certain classes of electronic devices. The efficiency of a PSU
by definition is the ratio between the values of output and input wattage:

Efficiency=Pout/Pin. Note that because

Pin=VA*PF and since any real active circuit has PF<1, you can't just multiply input volts and amps- to measure Pin you

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need a true wattmeter.

The DC-DC converter runs off the PFC output,

generates a set of DC busses required for the load,
and normally also provides input-to-output isolation.
There are a number of topologies utilized in DC-DC
converters. The above block diagram depicts an
isolating forward converter. Most low-voltage nonisolated converters use buck regulators (single or
interleaved multi-phase). There is likewise a large
variety of PWM ICs suitable for each of these
topologies. The

selection of the right power topology

depends on specific requirements for the product

(including cost and time factors).

Finally, the housekeeping supply provides bias for all control circuitry. It may
also provide a separate stand-by voltage (SBV) which remains active when the
PS unit is shut down for any reason. In today's computer power supply a 5VDC
SBV is a standard feature.

seminar
books, where you can find a comprehensive collection of power supply tutorials,
If you want to learn practical PSU design, you may start with Unitrode

references, practical schematic diagrams, and guides. You may also read SMPS
design

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