Power Supplies

Introduction
 Batteries are often shown on a schematic diagram as
the source of DC voltage but usually the actual DC
voltage source is a power supply.
 There are many types of power supplies. Most are
designed to convert high voltage AC mains electricity to
a suitable low voltage supply for electronics circuits and
other devices.
 A more reliable method of obtaining DC power is to
transform, rectify, filter and regulate an AC line voltage.
 A power supply can by broken down into a series of
blocks, each of which performs a particular function.

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Introduction
 Why power supplies?
◦ Constant output
 Load variations
 Source variations

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 Introduction

240 V rms

 Power supply: a group of circuits that convert the standard ac

voltage (240 V, 50 Hz) provided by the wall outlet to constant
dc voltage
 Transformer : a device that step up or step down the ac
voltage provided by the wall outlet to a desired amplitude
through the action of a magnetic field

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 Introduction

240 V rms

 Rectifier: a diode circuits that converts the ac input voltage to

a pulsating dc voltage
 The pulsating dc voltage is only suitable to be used as a
battery charger, but not good enough to be used as a dc
power supply in a radio, stereo system, computer and so on.

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 Introduction

240 V rms

 There are two basic types of rectifier circuits:

◦ Half-wave rectifier
◦ Full-wave rectifier - Center-tapped & Bridge full-wave rectifier
 In summary, a full-wave rectified signal has less ripple than a
half-wave rectified signal and is thus better to apply to a filter.

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 Introduction

240 V rms

 Filter: a circuit used to reduce the fluctuation in the rectified

output voltage or ripple. This provides a steadier dc voltage.
 Regulator: a circuit used to produces a constant dc output
voltage by reducing the ripple to negligible amount. One part of
power supply.

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Introduction
Regulator - Zener diode regulator
 For low current power supplies - a simple voltage
regulator can be made with a resistor and a zener diode
connected in reverse.
 Zener diodes are rated by their breakdown voltage Vz
and maximum power Pz (typically 400mW or 1.3W)

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REGULATION
CHARACTERISTICS
Voltage Regulation
 Two basic categories of voltage regulation are:
 line regulation
 load regulation

 The purpose of line regulation is to maintain a nearly

constant output voltage when the input voltage
varies.
 The purpose of load regulation is to maintain a nearly
constant output voltage when the load varies

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 Line Regulation

Line regulation: A change in input (line) voltage does not significantly affect the
output voltage of a regulator (within certain limits)
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Line Regulation
 Line regulation can be defined as the percentage change
in the output voltage for a given change in the input
voltage.
 VOUT 
Line regulation    100%
 VIN 

 Line regulation can be calculated using the following

formula:

Line regulation 
VOUT / VOUT 100%
VIN
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 Load Regulation

Load regulation: A change in load current (due to a varying RL) has practically no
effect on the output voltage of a regulator (within certain limits)
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Load Regulation
 Load regulation can be defined as the percentage
change in the output voltage from no-load (NL) to full-
load (FL).

 VNL  VFL 
Load regulation    100%
 VFL 
 Where:
VNL = the no-load output voltage
VFL = the full-load output voltage

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Load Regulation
 Sometimes power supply manufacturers specify the
equivalent output resistance (Rout) instead of its load
regulation.

 RFL equal the smallest-rated load resistance, then VFL:

 RFL 
VFL  VNL  
 ROUT  RFL 
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Load Regulation
 Rearrange the equation:

 ROUT  RFL 
VNL  VFL  
 RFL 
 ROUT  RFL 
VFL    VFL
Load regulation   RFL   100%
VFL
 ROUT  RFL 
Load regulation    1  100%
 RFL 
 ROUT 
Load regulation     100%
 RFL 
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Example
1. The input of a certain regulator increases by 3.5 V. As a
result, the output voltage increases by 0.042 V. The
nominal output is 20 V. Determine the line regulation
in both % and in %/V.
(Solution: 1.2% ; 0.06%/V)

2. If a 5 V power supply has an output resistance of 80

mΩ and a specific maximum output current of 1 A.
Calculate the load regulation in %.
(Solution: 1.6%)

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 Power
Supplies

Switch
Linear
Mode

Series Shunt Non-

Isolated
Element Element isolated

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Linear Power Supplies
Linear Power Supplies
 Basic block diagram: Series Element

Control Element
VIn VOut

Error
Reference Sampling
Detector

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Series Regulator Circuit
 Control element in series with load between input
and output.
 Output sample circuit senses a change in output
voltage.
 Error detector compares sample voltage with
reference voltage → causes control element to
compensate in order to maintain a constant output
voltage.

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Op-Amp Series Regulator
Control Element

VREF

Sample
Error Detector Circuit

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Op-Amp Series Regulator
 The resistor R1 and R2 sense a change in the output
voltage and provide a feedback voltage.
 The error detector compares the feedback voltage with
a Zener diode reference voltage.
 The resulting difference voltage causes the transistor Q1
controls the conduction to compensate the variation of
the output voltage.
 The output voltage will be maintained at a constant
value of:
 R1 
Vo  1  VZ
 R2 
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Transistor Series Regulator

 The transistor Q1 is the series control element.

 Zener diode provides the reference voltage.

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Transistor Series Regulator
 Since Q1 is an npn transistor, Vo is found as:

VBE  VZ  Vo
 the response of the pass-transistor to a change in load
resistance as follows:
◦ If load resistance increases, load voltage also increases.
◦ Since the Zener voltage is constant, the increase in Vo causes VBE
to decrease.
◦ The decrease in VBE reduces conduction through the pass-
transistor, so load current decreases.
◦ This offsets the increase in load resistance, and a relatively
constant load voltage is maintained

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Example
 Determine the output voltage for the regulator below.
(Solution: 10.2 V)

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Example
 Calculate the output voltage and Zener current for
RL=1kΩ.
(Solution:Vo=11.3 V; Iz≈36 mA)

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 Linear Power Supplies
 Basic block diagram: Shunt Element

VIn VOut
Control Element

Reference Comparator Sampling

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Shunt Regulator Circuit
 The unregulated input voltage provides current to the load.
 Some of the current is pulled away by the control element.
 If the load voltage tries to change due to a change in the load
resistance, the sampling circuit provides a feedback signal to a
comparator.
 The resulting difference voltage then provides a control signal to
vary the amount of the current shunted away from the load to
maintain the regulated output voltage across the load.

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Op-Amp Shunt Regulator

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Op-Amp Shunt Regulator
 When the output voltage tries to decrease due to a
change in input voltage or load current caused by a
change in load resistance, the decrease is sensed by R1
and R2.
 A feedback voltage obtained from voltage divider R1
and R2 is applied to the op-amp’s non-inverting input
and compared to the Zener voltage to control the drive
current to the transistor.
 The current through resistor RS is thus controlled to
drop a voltage across RS so that the output voltage is
maintained.

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 Transistor Shunt Regulator

 The control element is a transistor, in parallel with the

load. While, the resistor, RS, is in series with the load.
 The operation of the transistor shunt regulator is
similar to that of the transistor series regulator, except
that regulation is achieved by controlling the current
through the parallel transistor
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 Transistor Shunt Regulator
 Resistor RS drops the
unregulated voltage depends on
current supplied to load RL.
 Voltage across the load is set by
zener diode and transistor base-
emitter voltage.
 If RL decrease, a reduced drive
current to base of Q1 
shunting less collector current.
 Load current, IL is larger,
maintaining the regulated voltage
across load.
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Transistor Shunt Regulator
 The output voltage to the load is: Vo  VL  VZ  VBE

 voltage across the load is set by the Zener diode

voltage and the transistor base-emitter voltage.
 If the load resistance decreases, the load current will be
larger at a value of: VL
IL 
RL
 The increase in load current causes the collector
current shunted by the transistor is to be less:
IC  I S  I L
Vi  VL
 The current through RS: IS 
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RS
Example
 Determine the regulated voltage,VL and circuit currents.
(Solution:VL=8.9 V; IL=89 mA; IS=109 mA; IC=20 mA)

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Linear Series Voltage Regulator

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Linear Regulator Types
 Main types:
◦ Standard (NPN Darlington) Regulator
◦ Low Dropout or LDO Regulator
◦ Quasi LDO Regulator
 Differences
◦ Dropout Voltage
 Min in LDO & Max in standard
◦ ground pin current
 Min in standard & Max generally in LDO

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Standard Linear Regulator

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Standard Linear Regulator
 High dropout
 Low ground pin current

VD (min)  2VBE  VCE E.g . :

VD ~ 2.5 V  3 V 78 xx series
IO VD (Typ )  2 V
IG  I B 
G I G  6 mA

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Low-Dropout (LDO) Regulator

VD (min)  VCE  I O
IO
VD ~ 0.7 V  0.8 V IG  I B 
G
VD (Typ ) ~ 0.6 V
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The Quasi Low-dropout Regulator

VD (min)  VBE  VCE

VD ~ 1.5 V
IO
IG  I B 
G
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Summary of Linear Regulator Types

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Selecting a Regulator
 Maximum Load Current
 Type of Input Voltage Source (Battery or AC)
◦ Battery: LDO is usually the best choice
◦ AC: a standard regulator is usually the most
economical choice
 Output Voltage Precision (Tolerance)
 Quiescent (Idling) Current
 Special Features
◦ Shutdown
◦ Load-dump (overvoltage transient) Protection
◦ Reverse Input Voltage Protection
◦ Error Flag

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Protection Circuits Built Into IC
Linear Regulators
 Two protection circuits:
◦ Thermal Shutdown
◦ Current Limiting
 Chain of command:
1. Thermal Limit (IC is regulating junction
temperature/power dissipation)
2. Current Limit (IC is regulating load
current)
3. Voltage Control (IC is regulating output
voltage)

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Thermal Shutdown

Turn-on VBE of Q1 at a temperature of about 160°C  0.35V

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Current Limiting
 Constant Current Limiting
 Voltage-Dependent Current Limiting
(sometimes called "Fold-back Limiting")

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Constant Current Limiting

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Voltage Dependent (Fold-back)
Current Limiting
 Voltage regulators which are relatively high current
(>1A) use a type of current limiting where the
maximum allowable value of load current is dependent
on the input-output voltage differential across the part.

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