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Switching Power Supplies
There are many different switching power supply topologies
available.  The buck, boost, and forward converters are described
below.  Multiswitch and resonant converters are also briefly
discussed.
Buck Converter
 - The buck converter, shown in Figure 3, is
useful for stepping down from a higher voltage to a lower
voltage.  The key points are:
 Not isolated
 High side switch requires level shift or bootstrap circuit to
   drive
 Limited to approximate 10:1 conversion range by duty
   cycle requirements
 Provides only down converted, positive output voltages
Boost Converter
 - The boost converter, shown in Figure 4, is
useful for stepping up from a lower voltage to a higher voltage.
The key points are:
 Not isolated
 Limited to approximate 10:1 conversion range by duty
   cycle requirements
 Provides only up converted, positive output voltages
Forward Converter
 - The forward converter, shown in Figure
5, is an isolated version of the Buck.  Single or multiple, positive
or negative, higher or lower output voltages are available by
transformer design.  This topology can be useful for output
power of 100 W to 300 W.  The key points are:
 Inductor required for each output voltage
 Extra diode required for each output voltage
 Additional isolated feedback circuit required
Multiple Switch Converters
 - Multiple switch converter
topologies include the push-pull, half bridge, full bridge, two
transistor flyback, and two transistor forward converters.  All
these circuits require at least one additional power switch and
are much more complex and costly.  They are used to implement
power supplies ranging from 200 watts to several kilowatts and
are inappropriate for low power, low cost designs.
Resonant and Quasi-Resonant Converters
  - Resonant
converters are switching power supplies that use resonant tank
circuits to process power with sinusoidal waveforms rather
than the pulse width modulated quasi-square waves employed
by conventional switching power supplies.  Quasi resonant
power supplies are switching power supplies that use resonant
circuits to smooth the turn on and turn off edges in the switching
waveform.   In general, resonant and quasi-resonant converters
are used at frequencies considerably higher than 100 KHz, and
require more components than the traditional quasi-square wave
PI-1720-120595
VIN
RL
CONTROL
FEEDBACK
WITH ISOLATION
PI-1735-021296
LINEAR
REGULATOR
60 Hz
TRANSFORMER
AC
IN
VO
Figure 2.  Linear Regulator Circuit.
Figure 5.  Forward Converter Circuit.
PI-1788-021296
CONTROL
FEEDBACK
VIN
VO
RL
Figure 3.  Buck Converter Circuit.
PI-1789-021296
CONTROL
FEEDBACK
VIN
VO
RL
Figure 4.  Boost Converter Circuit.