Power management plays a major role in virtually every piece of electronic equipment. It broadly refers to the generation and control of regulated voltages required to operate an electronic system. An effective power management subsystem can affect the reliability, performance, and time to market of its associated electronic equipment. Today's systems require power supply design to be integrated with the system design in order to maintain high efficiency. Here we outline a variety of helpful resources and tools to assist you in considering effective power management solutions during all stages of design, post production, and maintenance.
Power management component depends a lot on the input and output conditions like whether the input source is AC or DC? Is input voltage higher or lower than required output voltage? What is the load current? Maybe the load is sensitive to noise, or requires a constant current (for LEDs), or maybe it has a dynamically changing current?
The Switch mode power supply uses semiconductor switching techniques to provide the required output voltage and offer a versatile way of converting power efficiently. Modern IC switching regulators are small, flexible, and allow Buck (step-down), Boost (step-up) or Buck-Boost (both) operation.
Buck converters are switch-mode step-down converters which can provide high efficiency and high flexibility at higher Vin / Vout ratios and higher load current. Boost converters are used when Vout needs to be higher than Vin. Boost converters will step-up the input voltage to a higher output voltage. The Buck-Boost switching regulator is a combination of the buck converter and the boost converter it is used in applications where input voltage can vary,either below or above the output voltage.
Integrated circuit components such as switching regulators, linear voltage regulators, switched capacitor voltage converters, DC-DC Converters, AC-to-DC Solutions, PMIC Power management IC, Battery Management, Power over Ethernet (PoE) and voltage references are typical elements of power management used in electronic equipments.
Few of the unique features and advantages of these are mentioned below:
DC-DC Converters: The DC/DC converters could be any combination of buck converters, boost converters and/or LDOs in a single package. DC/DC switching regulators are specifically tailored to address critical design requirements of your application, such as wide input voltage, low input voltage, ease of use, high power density, and digital power.
AC-to-DC Solutions: They are used in power electronic applications where the input power is 50 Hz or 60 Hz sine-wave AC voltage that requires power conversion to a DC output. AC-DC converters can have more than one output and may feature like overcurrent, overvoltage, or short circuit protection.
Wireless Charging:Wireless battery charging or wireless inductive charging is a method for transferring electrical energy from a charger to a device without the need for a physical wire connection. Wireless charging is based on the principle of magnetic resonance, or Inductive Power Transfer (IPT).
Battery Management: Battery management is required for extremely accurate charging current and output voltages to optimize battery life and performance. To address these features battery management uses battery Sensor ICs, battery cell controller ICs and battery charger ICs.
Power over Ethernet (PoE): PoE is a mature and growing technology used to conveniently deliver power through Ethernet cables to a load rather than adding additional power cords. PoE systems provide high reliability, convenience, and low cost. IP phones, wireless access points, security cameras are few common applications.