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A regulated power supply is an embedded circuit; it converts unregulated AC (alternating current) into a constant DC. With the help of a rectifier it converts AC supply into DC. Its function is to supply a stable voltage (or less often current), to a circuit or device that must be operated within certain power supply limits.
The line regulation for an unregulated power supply is usually very high for a majority of operations, but this can be improved by using a voltage regulator. A low line regulation is always preferred. In practice, a well regulated power supply should have a line regulation of at most 0.1%. [1]
For example, a regulated power supply is one that maintains constant output voltage or current despite variations in load current or input voltage. Conversely, the output of an unregulated power supply can change significantly when its input voltage or load current changes.
Load regulation is the capability to maintain a constant voltage (or current) level on the output channel of a power supply despite changes in the supply's load (such as a change in resistance value connected across the supply output). [1] [2]
When the supply voltage is less than about 2 V above the desired output voltage, as is the case in low-voltage microprocessor power supplies, so-called low dropout regulators (LDOs) must be used. When the output regulated voltage must be higher than the available input voltage, no linear regulator will work (not even a low dropout regulator).
Many power supplies use more than one regulating method in series. For example, the output from a switching regulator can be further regulated by a linear regulator. The switching regulator accepts a wide range of input voltages and efficiently generates a (somewhat noisy) voltage slightly above the ultimately desired output.