POWER SUPPLY

A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The
primary function of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the
correct voltage, current, and frequency to power the load. As a result, power supplies are
sometimes referred to as electric power converters. Some power supplies are separate
standalone pieces of equipment, while others are built into the load appliances that they power.
Examples of the latter include power supplies found in desktop computers and consumer
electronics devices. Other functions that power supplies may perform include limiting the current
drawn by the load to safe levels, shutting off the current in the event of an electrical fault, power
conditioning to prevent electronic noise or voltage surges on the input from reaching the
load, power-factor correction, and storing energy so it can continue to power the load in the event
of a temporary interruption in the source power (uninterruptible power supply).

COMPONENTS
A power supply is an electronic circuit that converts an ac voltage to dc voltage. It is basically
consisting of the following elements: transformer, rectifier, filter and regulator circuits. Power
supply units (PSU) are used in computers, amateur radio transmitters and receivers, and all
other electronic equipment that use dc voltage as an input. Uninterruptible power supply is a
must for computers which holds volatile data from time to time. This prevents corruption of data
due to power failure and low voltage.

Transformer
The transformer is a static device that transfers electrical energy from the primary winding to the
secondary winding without affecting the frequency. It is used to step-up or step-down the ac
voltage level and isolates the remainder of the electronic system from the ac power.

The primary winding of the transformer is connected to an ac voltage source that produces
alternating current while the secondary is connected to a load. The primary and secondary
windings are not physically connected to each other but due to electromagnetic induction
following Faraday's law, there is an induced voltage in the secondary winding. There are three
main functions of transformers namely: stepping the voltage up, stepping the voltage down and
providing isolation between the primary and secondary circuits.

A simple power supply used in desktop computers. This unit supplies the regulated voltage necessary for
computer to operate properly. | Source
Rectifier
The rectifier is a device used to change the ac power into pulsating dc. The basic rectifier is the
diode. This diode is a unidirectional device that operates as rectifier in the forward direction. The
three basic rectifier circuits using diodes are the half-wave, full-wave center-tapped and full-wave
bridge type.

Filter
The filter of the power supply is used to keep the ripple component from appearing in the output.
It is designed to convert pulsating DC from rectifier circuits into a suitably smooth dc level. The
two basic types of power supply filters are the capacitance filter (C-filter) and RC-filter. The C-
filter is the simplest and most economical filter available. On the other hand, RC-filter is used to
reduce the amount of ripple voltage across a capacitor filter. Its primary function is to pass most
of the dc component while attenuating the ac component of the signal.
Ripple and Ripple factor
Ripple is the unwanted ac component of the signal after rectification. It is unwanted because it
can destroy or damage the load. This is the main reason why filters are installed in power supply
- to prevent high ripples. The job of the filter is to smoothen the signal and suppress the ac
component or variations. Ripple factor is the ratio of the root mean square of the ripple voltage to
the value of dc component at the output voltage. It is sometimes expressed in percentage or in
peak-to-peak value. The ripple factor determines the effectivity of a filter being used in the circuit.

A sample full-wave bridge rectifier circuit with RC filter. The filter is used to reduce the ac component of the
signal. | Source

Voltage Regulators
A voltage regulator is designed to provide a very steady or well regulated dc output. It is always
ideal to have a steady output voltage so that the load will operate properly. The output level is
maintained regardless of the variation of the input voltage. The commonly used transistor voltage
regulators are the series voltage regulator and the shunt voltage regulator.

Series voltage regulator

The series element controls the amount of the unregulated input voltage that goes to the output
as a regulated output. The regulated output voltage is sampled by a circuit that provides a
feedback to the comparator circuit and is compared to a reference voltage.

Shunt voltage regulator

The shunt voltage regulator provides regulation by shunting current away from the load to
regulate the output voltage.

A typical schematic diagram of LM317. The major component, LM317 IC is used as adjustable voltage
regulator. | Source

IC Voltage Regulators
A regulator Integrated Circuit (IC) unit contains the circuitry - the reference source, comparator,
amplifier, control device, and the overload protector - inside a single IC. There are also
adjustable voltage regulators which allow the user to set the desired output level. Other IC
regulators have fixed output values. It is said that IC regulators are superior compared to
transistor voltage regulators when it comes to linearity of the output voltage.

FUNCTIONS
A power supply unit (or PSU) converts mains AC to low-voltage regulated DC power for the
internal components of a computer. Modern personal computers universally use switched-mode
power supplies. Some power supplies have a manual switch for selecting input voltage, while
others automatically adapt to the mains voltage.
Most modern desktop personal computer power supplies conform to the ATX specification, which
includes form factor and voltage tolerances. While an ATX power supply is connected to the
mains supply, it always provides a 5 Volt standby (5VSB) voltage so that the standby functions
on the computer and certain peripherals are powered. ATX power supplies are turned on and off
by a signal from the motherboard. They also provide a signal to the motherboard to indicate
when the DC voltages are in spec, so that the computer is able to safely power up and boot. The
most recent ATX PSU standard is version 2.31 as of mid-2008.