Articles - Supply

Most mission-critical systems need to be designed for near-zero downtime throughout their useful life. So, if a component of such a system fails or needs updating, it must be replaced without interrupting the rest of the system. Here, the board or ...

Voltage to current conversion circuits can take on several forms depending on the nature of the load connections. In those cases where the load is single ended, that is one end must be connected to ground, and where bipolar current flow is ...

The ever innovative and prolific Mr. Woodward has offered “PWM-programmed LM317 constant current source” [ 1 ], an intriguing programmable constant current source which elicited a lively conversation in its comments section. A Zen ...

Many different switching regulator topologies exist. Some, such as the classic stepdown converter, also known as a buck converter, are very widespread. However, there are also a few lesser known switch-mode dc-to-dc converters, including the zeta ...

Imagine that you have a voltage source in series with some source resistance feeding power to a variable load. The relationship between load voltage, load current, and cell current can be drawn as follows in Figure 1. Figure 1. The load voltage ...

A new control loop architecture is designed to generate very low noise voltages. This can be utilized by both linear and switching regulators. In addition to the low noise achieved, the level of noise becomes independent of the set output voltage. ...

Basic programmable rheostats For many variable resistor (rheostat) applications, one of the device’s terminals is connected to a voltage source VS. Such a source might be a reference DC voltage, an op amp output carrying an AC plus DC signal, ...

You’ve got an apparently simple design requirement on your latest AC-line powered project: provide a distinctly illuminated indicator to show that the unit is plugged into the line and that power is “on,” meaning that the line is ...

Whether its buck, boost, or buck/boost, internal or external switch, milliamps or tens of amps, a literal cornucopia of programmable output switching regulator/converter chips are commercially available. While the required external Ls and Cs (of ...

Inverting buck-boost circuits are commonly used for generating negative supply voltages from positive voltages. The most important step is ensuring that the negative voltages are generated correctly. However, additional level shifting circuits may ...