GUINTO, JULIUS NERI A.

BSECE-4B

1. WHAT IS A SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY OR SWITCH-MODE

POWER SUPPLY?
A SWITCH MODE POWER SUPPLY IS A POWER CONVERTER THAT
UTILIZES SWITCHING DEVICES SUCH AS MOSFETS THAT
CONTINUOUSLY TURN ON AND OFF AT HIGH FREQUENCY, AND
ENERGY STORAGE DEVICES SUCH AS THE CAPACITORS AND
INDUCTORS TO SUPPLY POWER DURING THE NON-CONDUCTION STATE
OF THE SWITCHING DEVICE. SWITCHED-MODE POWER SUPPLIES ARE
BOTH SMALLER AND MORE EFFICIENT THAN LINEAR REGULATOR
POWER SUPPLIES. THEY CAN PRODUCE OUTPUT VOLTAGES LOWER OR
HIGHER THAN THE VALUE OF THE SMOOTHED D.C.
2. WHAT ARE THE COMMON TYPES OF SWITCHING POWER
SUPPLY? DRAW AN EXAMPLE OF EACH TYPE AND EXPLAIN ITS
BASIC OPERATION.

• BUCK CONVERTER - THE BASIC OPERATION OF THE BUCK

CONVERTER HAS THE CURRENT IN AN INDUCTOR CONTROLLED BY
TWO SWITCHES. THE SWITCH AND THE DIODE HAVE ZERO VOLTAGE
DROP WHEN ON AND ZERO CURRENT FLOW WHEN OFF AND THE
INDUCTOR HAS ZERO SERIES RESISTANCE. FURTHER, THE INPUT
AND OUTPUT VOLTAGES DO NOT CHANGE THROUGHOUT A CYCLE.

• BOOST CONVERTER - THE MAIN WORKING PRINCIPLE OF BOOST

CONVERTER IS THAT THE INDUCTOR IN THE INPUT CIRCUIT
RESISTS SUDDEN VARIATIONS IN INPUT CURRENT. WHEN SWITCH
IS OFF THE INDUCTOR STORES ENERGY AND DISCHARGES IT WHEN
SWITCH IS CLOSED. THE CAPACITOR IN THE OUTPUT CIRCUIT IS
LARGE ENOUGH THAT THE TIME CONSTANT OF RC CIRCUIT IN THE
OUTPUT STAGE IS HIGH, WHICH ENSURES A CONSTANT OUTPUT
VOLTAGE.

• BUCK-BOOST CONVERTER - FROM THE INITIAL STATE WHEN

THE SWITCH IS OPEN, THE CURRENT THROUGH THE INDUCTOR IS
ZERO. WHEN THE SWITCH IS CLOSED, THE BLOCKING DIODE
PREVENTS CURRENT FROM FLOWING SO IT MUST ALL FLOW THROUGH
THE INDUCTOR. THE INDUCTOR WILL KEEP THE CURRENT LOW BY
DROPPING MOST OF THE VOLTAGE. OVERTIME, THE INDUCTOR WILL
ALLOW THE CURRENT TO SLOWLY INCREASE BY DECREASING ITS
VOLTAGE DROP.

• CUK CONVERTER - OUTPUT VOLTAGE MAGNITUDE CAN BE

EITHER LARGER OR SMALLER THAN THAT OF THE INPUT, AND
THERE IS A POLARITY REVERSAL ON THE OUTPUT. THE INDUCTOR
ON THE INPUT ACTS AS A FILTER FOR THE DC SUPPLY TO
PREVENT LARGELY HARMONIC CONTENT.
• PUSH-PULL CONVERTER - WITH Q1 SWITCHED ON,
TRANSFORMER ACTION FORWARD BIASES DIODE D2 AND ENERGY IS
TRANSFERRED TO THE OUTPUT CIRCUIT AS THE INDUCTOR CURRENT
RAMPS UP. WITH Q2 SWITCHED ON, DIODE D1 IS FORWARD-
BIASED, THE INDUCTOR CURRENT AGAIN RAMPS UP, AND ENERGY
TRANSFERS TO THE OUTPUT CIRCUIT.

• HALF-BRIDGE CONVERTER - THE OPERATION OF THE HALF-

BRIDGE CONVERTER IS SIMILAR TO THAT OF THE PUSH-PULL
CONVERTER. IN COMPARISON TO THE PUSH PULL CONVERTER, THE
PRIMARY SWITCH OF THE TRANSFORMER IS SIMPLIFIED AT THE
EXPENSE OF TWO VOLTAGE-SHARING INPUT CAPACITORS.
• FULL-BRIDGE CONVERTER - WHEN S1 AND S4 ARE ON,
VOLTAGE VS IS APPLIED TO THE PRIMARY SWITCH OF THE
TRANSFORMER, AND DIODE D1 CONDUCTS. WITH S2 AND S3 ON,
THERE IS VOLTAGE VS ACROSS THE TRANSFORMER PRIMARY
SWITCH, AND DIODE D2 IS ON. WITH ALL CONTROLLABLE
SWITCHES OFF, BOTH DIODES CONDUCT IN THE SAME WAY AS IN
THE PUSH-PULL AND HALF-BRIDGE CONVERTERS.