SWITCH-MODE POWER

SUPPLY or SMPS
SMPS are power supplies that
operate on a switching basis.

SWITCH-MODE POWER
SUPPLY
Why?
The principal reason for the move from linear
power supply to SMPS is their much greater
efficiency. Normally, SMPS power efficiency
is ranging from 70 88%. This greatly
reduces the cooling requirements and allows
a much higher power density.

POWER
Astec Custom Power

Rate of ENERGY per unit TIME

P = dW/dt [Work done per unit time]

Measured in WATTS
[ 1W = 1 Joule / sec]

May be DELIVERED POWER

[Energy OUT / sec]
or ABSORBED POWER
[Energy IN / sec]

VOLTAGE SOURCES

May DELIVER or ABSORB power.

Voltage is ideally fixed, but current may be
leaving or entering the positive terminal.
May be a DC source or an AC source.
+

SMPS BASIC COMPONENTS

SWITCH

(transistor)
INDUCTOR
CAPACITOR
DIODE
LOAD
PWM (controlling and monitoring)

RESISTIVE LOADS

ALWAYS ABSORB power.

PR = IR2R = VR2 / R

[Eq. 1]

Polarity of voltage follows direction of

current
VR = IRR
[Eq. 2]

Electric Energy is converted into Heat.

INDUCTORS
May temporarily DELIVER or ABSORB
power.
The net power eventually goes zero.
Voltage is proportional to the rate of change in
current
VL = L dIL/dt
[Eq. 3]

Energy is stored in magnetic field

EL = 1/2LIL2
[Eq. 4]

POWER IN AN INDUCTOR
Voltage and current

Pmax
Emax

Imax

Voltage (E)

time

T/4

/2

T/2

3T/4

3/2

Current (I)
2

Average Power is zero over period T

VOLTAGE AND CURRENT IN

AN INDUCTOR

From [Eq. 3], the current through an inductor is

delivered as an integral of voltage:
IL = 1/LVLdt

Also from [Eq. 3], we can see that:

dIL/dt = VL/L

This means that the current slope is proportional

to voltage for any given L

VOLTAGE AREA AND CURRENT

SLOPE IN AN INDUCTOR
V
A1

A2

For current to return

to the original value,
positive voltseconds must equal
negative voltseconds.
Pave = 0
A1 = A2

INDUCTORS IN SWITCHING
POWER SUPPLIES
When a voltage pulse is applied across an
inductor, the current through it rises linearly until
the end of the pulse.
The longer the pulse, the higher the final value of
current.
If the current is fed into a capacitor, the capacitor
voltage can be regulated by applying a squarewave across the inductor and varying cycle.

CAPACITORS
May temporarily DELIVER or ABSORB power.
The net power is eventually zero.
Current is proportional to the rate of change in
voltage
IC = C dVC/dt
[Eq. 4]
Energy is stored in electric field
EC = 1/2CVC2
[Eq. 5]

CAPACITORS IN SWITCHING
POWER SUPPLIES

Capacitors smooth out the output voltage of a

power supply.

In a switching power supply, the shunt capacitor,

together with the series choke, form an LC filter
which smoothens out the switching square wave
input.

POWER IN A SWITCH
An ideal switch is either ON [closed] or OFF
[open]
In a short circuit, VSW = 0

In an open circuit, ISW = 0

Therefore, Power in a switch is ideally 0.

An actual switch may have significant power
losses during the switching interval [rise time &
fall time], called switching loss.

EFFICIENCY [2-TERMINAL
NETWORKS]

Efficiency is the ratio of output power to input

power
Eff = PO / PIN

PO = PIN PLOSSES

Eff = PO / [PO + PLOSSES]

= [PIN PLOSSES]/PIN

INTRODUCTION TO POWER
SUPPLIES

Almost all electronic devices use DC sources

DC source can be a battery or a power supply

DC source needs to be well-filtered and wellregulated

TYPES OF POWER CONVERSION

AC-DC
rectifier

DC-AC
inverter

DC-DC
step-up or step-down converter

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN
IDEAL POWER SUPPLY

Constant output voltage

Output impedance is zero at all frequencies

100% efficient [No power loss]

No ripple or noise on the output voltage

A REAL POWER SUPPLY

Losses in semiconductors and transformers.

[e.g., RdsON, switching loss, hysteresis & Cu loss]

Although well-regulated, the output does change

with load. It also changes with line voltage and
temperature.
Even with above changes, output must still meet
specifications.

LINEAR POWER SUPPLY

Uses

a 50/60Hz [low frequency] power

transformer followed by a rectifier, a filter and
a linear regulator.
Low efficiency of 40% to 60%

BASIC FUNCTIONS WITHIN

A POWER SUPPLY

Voltage transformation

Rectification

Filtering

Regulation

Isolation

POWER SUPPLY WITH

REGULATOR

SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY

Generally, of the off-the-line type

AC input voltage is directly rectified and filtered without
using a 50/60Hz transformer.
Rectified DC is chopped by a power switch at high
frequency to produce an AC signal which is then
impressed across an inductor for energy storage.
The inductor current is fed to a capacitor which
acts like a stable voltage source for the load.
Output voltage-regulation is accomplished by varying
the switch duty cycle.

SWITCHING POWER SUPPLY

High frequency switching [20KHz to 500KHz]
enables reduction in size of transformer,
capacitors and inductors.
P = E/t , t = period
EL = 1/2LIL2f
, EC = 1/2CVC2f [Eq.6]

High efficiency, normally 70% to 88%

BASIC SMPS TOPOLOGIES

Buck Converter

Boost Converter

Forward Converter

Flyback Converter

EVOLUTION OF POWER
SUPPLY

Old technology: Linear power supply

New technology: Switching Power Supply [ also

called Switch-Mode Power Supply or SMPS]

CHARACTERISTICS OF A BUCK
CONVERTER

DC DC switching regulator
Output voltage is always lower than the input
voltage (i.e., step-down)
-example: cell phone chargers for cars(12V
battery voltage steps down to 8V)
OUTPUT is not isolated from the INPUT

BUCK CONVERTER
APPLICATIONS

Small size imbedded systems

Used as post regulators

BUCK CONVERTER CIRCUIT

DIAGRAM

BUCK CONVERTER CIRCUIT

DIAGRAM

BASIC OPERATION OF A
BUCK CONVERTER

DC input voltage is chopped by SW to produce a

rectangular voltage with respect to ground at the
diode cathode.
LC filter smoothens out this chopped voltage to
produce DC output with very low ripple.
Regulation of the output voltage is accomplished
by varying the duty cycle of the SW with respect
to input voltage changes.

DETAILED OPERATION:
BUCK CONVERTER OFF STAGE

SW is open (no current), but current continues to flow out of the

inductor.
Reverse inductor-voltage forward biased diode.
Energy stored in L is now delivered to the load.
C Smoothens out the continues inductor current.

Buck Converter

PWM

ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES
- high efficiency
- simple
- no transformer
- low switch stress
- small output filter
- low output ripple
voltage

DISADVANTAGES
- no isolation between
input and output
- potential over voltage if
Q1 shorts
- normally only one output
possible
- high-side switch drive
required
- high input ripple current

CHARACTERISTICS OF A
BOOST REGULATOR
DC-DC

switching regulator

OUTPUT

voltage is always higher than the

INPUT voltage (during normal operation)

OUTPUT

cannot be isolated from the INPUT

BOOST REGULATOR APPLICATIONS

Low output power levels for auxiliary supply

e.g., to step-up a 5V computer logic level to 15V for
use with Op-Amps.

Almost exclusively used to Power Factor Correction

(PFC)

BOOST REGULATOR CIRCUIT

DIAGRAM

D = (Vo Vin) / Vo

FORWARD CONVERTER CIRCUIT

DIAGRAM

D = (Vo/Vin)(Np/Ns)

FLYBACK CIRCUIT
DIAGRAM

COMPARISON OF LINEAR VS
SWITCHING POWER
SUPPLY
Specification
Linear
Switcher
Linear Regulation
Load Regulation
Output Ripple
Input Voltage Range
Efficiency
Power Density
Transient Recovery
Hold-up time

0.02-0.05%
0.2-0.1%
0.5-2mVRMS

0.05-0.1%
0.1-1.0%
25-100mVP-P

10%
40-55%
0.5W/in3
50sec
2msec

20%
60-80%
2.3-40W/in3
300sec
32msec

SWITCHING VS. LINEAR PSU

Advantages of Switching over Linear:

Wider input range
Higher efficiency
Higher output density
Longer hold-up time
Advantages of Linear over Switching:
Better line and load regulation
Lower output peak to peak ripple
(lower output noise)
Faster transient recovery

BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A
POWER SUPPLY

Provide required VOLTS and AMPS.

Provide basic protection such as:

OVP Over voltage protection
S/CP Short circuit protection
Provide additional protection as needed:
OCP Over current protection
OTP Over temperature protection

OTHER POWER SUPPLY

CONCERNS

EMI [conducted and radiated]

Safety [UL standards, etc.]

Quality and Reliability

Manufacturability

Cost