Articles - Supply

Before a circuit designer decides on a particular power supply, he or she will first want to test it carefully. The data sheet for a switching regulator IC provides valuable information on how the complete power supply could behave in real life, as ...

Having very large or very small duty cycles, especially at high switching frequencies, can cause timing violations, leading to degraded system performance. Abstract This article is the third article in a series where common switch-mode power supply ...

Choosing an R SENSE value that is too large or too small, as well as removing the filtering, can lead to worse system efficiency and degraded noise performance. Abstract This is the second article in a series where common switch-mode power supply ...

Improper inductor sizing and violation of the inductor saturation current rating can cause a wide variety of issues within DC-to-DC converters, two of which are audible ringing and overheating. Abstract This article is the first in a series where ...

Introduction Switch-mode power supplies based on the buck (step-down) converter principle are widely used in all electronic applications. They do not require a transformer, just a simple coil to efficiently convert a high voltage to a low voltage. ...

Abstract This article explains the unique considerations and challenges associated with utilizing GaN switches in switch-mode power supplies. A solution is presented in the form of a specialized GaN driver that provides the necessary functions for ...

This moral of this story: any promises of protection and safety should be double-checked for validity. Surge (over-voltage) protection is a rather frequent function, but implementing it robustly is not a very simple task. Recently, I stumbled upon ...

How to deal with the reality that a standard buck controller power stage won’t work for negative-input conversion. Telecommunications equipment, industrial test and other applications require a negative input to negative output voltage ...

Abstract This article discusses the need for precise gate voltage control and accurate gate measurements when using gallium nitride field-effect transistors (GaN FETs). High-side gate measurements taken with advanced isolated probes are compared to ...

Abstract This article describes a circuit that facilitates the measurement of currents from amps to hundreds of amps with a high degree of precision. Introduction There are many applications that require the measurement of current. Many digital ...