Power Supplies

The power supply of an electronic system is used to convert the AC energy provided by the wall outlet into DC energy. This DC energy is used to provide the DC voltage which are required for proper circuit operation. Many of the electronic devices such as transistors, operational amplifiers need a DC voltage for their operation.

Types of power supplies :There are two distinct types of power supplies, the Linear Regulated Power Supply and Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS). Linear Regulated Power Supply This supply has four main blocks. Transformer Rectifier Filter Voltage Regulator.

Block diagram of a linear regulated power supply The AC voltage at the input side is applied to the transformer. The transformer steps up or steps down the voltage. The rectifier converts the AC voltage to pulsating DC. The pulsating DC voltage is applied to the filter which reduces the fluctuations in the voltage. The voltage regulator converts the output of the filter to a constant output voltage. Switch Mode Power supply The linear regulators operate on a continuous conduction mode dissipate large amounts of power. The efficiency of a linear regulator can be as low as 40%. The switch mode power supplies have larger efficiencies since it has a switching element which turns on or off depending on the power requirements. This obviously reduces the power dissipation. The overall block diagram of a switching regulator has the following layout.

Block diagram of a Switch Mode Power Supply

In this arrangement, the AC input is rectified and filtered to give a steady DC voltage. This DC input to the voltage switching block is either blocked or allowed to pass through depending on the state of the switch. The resultant waveform which is a square wave is rectified and filtered This waveform is sampled. If the current required at the load is high, then the switching control ensures that the voltage switch is on for longer periods. The switching control described above is obtained by using IC chips. The sampling is done by a comparator and DC amplifier along with a DC reference. The output voltage is compared with a DC reference. If the output voltage reduces due to increase in load current, the comparator sends a positive signal to the pulse width modulator and increase the on time of the pulse. The block diagram which incorporates these components is shown in fig .

Block diagram of SMPS showing details of switching control The comparator used is usually an operational amplifier. The output of the operational amplifier will be positive if the input to the non inverting terminal is more than that of the inverting terminal. The non inverting terminal is given a constant reference voltage while the inverting terminal reflects the load voltage A comparator for sensing difference of voltage The voltage Vzener is a constant value given by a zener diode. If the output voltage is lowered by the increased current requirements of the load, the value of Vzener will be higher than the input to the inverting terminal. As a result, the output of the comparator is positive and this turns the Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) on for a longer time. The PWM is feeds pulses to the switching device and this turns the switching device on. The pulses are fed into the PWM from an oscillator and these are modulated by the output from the comparator to be on for a longer or shorter time. The switching element used is usually a transistor. Advantages of SMPS The Switching Regulators have the switching devices which are not conducting all the time.This increases the efficiency of the regulators. Usually the SMPS has an efficiency ranging from 50 to 90 percent compared to normal efficiency of a linear regulator which is around 50 percent. The switching regulators usually use on off duty cycle of a transistor switch to regulate the output voltage. By making this frequency much higher than the line frequency, the transformers, and other filter elements such as capacitors and inductors can be made very light and expensive

SMPS can be designed to incorporate inbuilt step up, step down and electrical isolation.

Disadvantages of SMPS Switching regulators generate electromagnetic and radio frequency interference noise due to high switching current. This noise can interfere with the equipment such as television, radio and telephones. This problems can be overcome or significantly reduced by using filters at the input and output of the regulator and by increasing the switching time. However switching regulators with a fixed frequency are easier to filter than those with variable frequency. It is costly and more complex than linear regulators.

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Switching-Mode Power Supply Design

Introduction What is a switching-mode power supply? A power supply is a buffer circuit that provides power with the characteristics required by the load from a primary power source with characteristics incompatible with the load. It makes the load compatible with its power source. Example: A power source might be the 60 Hz, single phase, 120 Vac power found in a home in the United States or the 50 Hz, single phase, 220 Vac found in the United Kingdom. The load might be a logic circuit in a personal computer that requires regulated 5 Vdc power. The power supply is the circuit that makes the 120 Vac or 220 Vac power source and 5 Vdc load compatible. A power supply is sometimes called a power converter and the process is called power conversion. It is also sometimes called a power conditioner and the process is called power conditioning. The Power Sources Manufacturers Association's (PSMA) Handbook of Standardized Terminology for the Power Sources Industry gives this definition of a power supply.

Power Supply -- A device for the conversion of available power of one set of characteristics to another set of characteristics to meet specified requirements. Typical application of power supplies include to convert raw input power to a controlled or stabilized voltage and/or current for the operation of electronic equipment. Power supplies belong to the field of power electronics, the use of electronics for the control and conversion of electrical power. The IEEE Power Electronics Society provides a more formal definition of power electronics in their constitution. Power Electronics -- This technology encompasses the effective use of electronic components, the application of circuit theory and design techniques, and the development of analytical tools toward efficient electronic conversion, control, and conditioning of electric power. A switching-mode power supply is a power supply that provides the power supply function through low loss components such as capacitors, inductors, and transformers -- and the use of switches that are in one of two states, on or off. The advantage is that the switch dissipates very little power in either of these two states and power conversion can be accomplished with minimal power loss, which equates to high efficiency. The term switchmode was widely used for this type of power supply until Motorola, Inc., who used the trademark SWITCHMODETM for products aimed at the switching-mode power supply market, started to enforce their trademark. Then more generic terms had to be found. I started using the term switching-mode power supply to avoid infringing on the trademark. Others used the term switching power supply, which seems to be the more popular term. PSMA does not define either switching-mode power supply or switching power supply, but does define switching regulator. Switching Regulator -- A switching circuit that operates in a closed loop system to regulate the power supply output. The design problem Because of its emphasis on efficiency, switching-mode power supply design minimizes the use of lossy components such as resistors and uses components that are ideally lossless such as switches, capacitors, inductors, and transformers. The primary design problem is how to interconnect these components and control the switches so the desired results are obtained. The secondary design problem is to select, design, or overcome the performance characteristics of less than ideal components. Protection techniques and parts derating are used to circumvent the fact that real parts tend to fail when overstressed. The design process is successful when a proper topology and control has been chosen that exceed the performance requirements and when protection techniques, parts selection, and

derating have been used that exceed the required reliability. Both normal and abnormal operating environments the circuit will encounter over its useful life must be considered throughout the design process. Note that the design goal is to exceed, not to just meet, the performance and reliability requirements. This comes from the philosophy that given fixed resources the engineer's task is to get the most from these resources. For example, if analysis shows that it will take 25 parts worth $50 and one month development time to just meet requirements, the goal then shifts from just meeting requirements to getting the absolute best performance out of these parts in the allotted time -- exceeding and not just meeting requirements if this is possible. This is not "gold plating" but just good engineering. Because of the critical nature of power supplies in all equipment, this approach improves both the performance and reliability of the total system at no additional cost. It often keeps the power supply off the critical-path schedule when increasing requirements might force a redesign resulting in a schedule slip. Scope Power conversion circuits are often classified in four categories. ac-ac converters cycloconverters) ac-dc converters dc-ac converters dc-dc converters (example: frequency changers, (example: rectifiers, off-line converters) (also called inverters) (also called converters)

The term converter or power converter is used for all these categories or for dc-dc converters only, the meaning is usually clear from the context. All of these converters may be open-loop circuits or use feedback to provide regulation. DC-DC converters were referred to as choppers earlier, when SCRs were used. Nowadays, IGBTs and MOSFETs are the devices used for dc-dc conversion and these circuits can be classified as switch mode power supply circuits. The abbreviation or acronym for switch mode power supply is SMPS. A switch mode power supply circuit is versatile. It can be used to: 1. step down an unregulated dc input voltage to produce a regulated dc output voltage using a circuit known as Buck Converter or Step-Down SMPS, 2. step up an unregulated dc input voltage to produce a regulated dc output voltage using a circuit known as Boost Converter or Step-Up SMPS,

3. step up or step down an unregulated dc input voltage to produce a regulated dc output voltage , 4. invert the input dc voltage using usually a circuit such as the Cuk converter, and 5. produce multiple dc outputs using a circuit such as the flyback converter. A switch mode power supply is a widely used circuit nowadays and it is used in a system such as a computer, television receiver, battery charger etc. The switching frequency is usually above 20 kHz, so that the noise produced by it is above the audio range. It is also used to provide a variable dc voltage to armature of a dc motor in a variable speed drive. It is used in a high-frequency unity-power factor circuit. The scope of this tutorial is dc-dc converters and a special type of ac-dc converter called an off-line converter or off-line power supply. In off-line converters the ac voltage is rectified to dc directly off the ac power line and filtered with no isolation transformer and then processed with a dc-dc converter that provides isolation at the switching frequency. Since the switching frequency is much higher than the line frequency the isolation transformer and output filter are greatly reduced in size and weight. The switching frequency is usually 20 kHz or higher to place any audio noise from the switching beyond the range of human hearing. Regulation of output voltage, current, or power is assumed, because that's where the fun begins. Also the rectification process may or may not include power factor correction or harmonic current suppression techniques. The PSMA Handbook defines off line power supply, power factor, and power factor correction as: Off Line Power Supply -- 1) A power supply in which the ac line voltage is rectified and filtered without using a line frequency isolation transformer. 2) A power supply switched into service upon line loss to provide power to the load without significant interruption. Also called Off Line Switchers (OLS). Power Factor -- The ratio of total active power to total apparent power in volt-amperes in an ac circuit, where voltage and current are rms values and include the effects of harmonics as well as the effects of phase displacement. If both voltage and current are sinusoidal, power factor is the cosine of the angle between them. Power Factor Correction -- 1) Technique of increasing the power factor so that the phase angle between the voltage and current approaches zero in an ac circuit. 2) Addition of capacitors to an inductive circuit to offset reactance. For the purposes of this tutorial, power factor is real power (average power) divided by apparent power (rms voltage times

rms current) and power factor correction is making this ratio approach one. Electronic circuits are always powered by a DC power supply. DC power supplies have been one of the bottlenecks for miniaturization of electronic products. During the last two decades, DC power supply designers have developed many switchmode design techniques and today most regulated DC power supplies are based on switchmode techniques. Course aims at discussing the modern design techniques, design trends, applications and repair approaches. Contents From linear to switchmode power supplies DC to DC converters Modern power semiconductors for SMPS systems Off-the-line switchmode power supplies Magnetics and capacitors Power factor correction in SMPS systems Troubleshooting

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