Power Supply in Power Management

Whether it is a digital system, analogue system or mixed-signal system, it never functions properly without power management technology. Consistent and sufficient power supply is important when semiconductor or any other technology is being tested or put to use. Power management test has an important role to play in the semiconductor industry. In this article, we will not dig deep into the power management test. This article covers a brief introduction to power management fundamentals. 

Power management plays an important role in electronics. It is responsible for regulation, control and distribution of power supply. The cost, performance, reliability and time-to-market for electronic systems greatly depend on power management. Electric systems require power supply and control management like human body requires blood supply. Power management system design is becoming more complicated. Designers have to deal with ICs operating below 1V. Others consume over 100A. We also have systems employing both digital and analogue signals. Some power management systems use different types of processors. There are specific power management tasks that require application-specific ICs. Power supply is the primary device that accepts DC or AC to produce and regulate DC output. The voltage regulator is a key component of this device. Usually, this component is an IC (integrated circuit). Different types of ICs offer specific characteristics. Power management ICs and power semiconductors are other important components performing various functions.        

Power supply is a key component that supplies DC power. The specific DC power management depends on power input including:    

• AC Input 

• DC Input 

• Battery Input 

• Ultralow Voltage Input 

AC Input 

A power supply utilizes, rectifies and filters AC utility power input. It provides DC voltage that is applied to a regulator circuit. This circuit supplies constant DC output. This output voltage can vary from thousands of volts to less than 1 volt. This type of power management system uses a switch-mode power supply. Linear supply is also an option in some systems. 

DC Input 

This power supply accepts DC input and provides DC output. It typically accepts 48V, 24V, 12V or 5V. This type of supply, at the low end, produces less than 1 volt DC. Other supplies of this type produce thousands of volts. This power management system uses a switch-mode power supply. 

Battery Input 

Portable equipment requires battery input. Portable equipment has weight and size restrictions. Therefore, power management is integrated with the electronic system. Some systems of this type utilize AC adapters. An AC adapter is a small power unit that can be plugged into an AC wall outlet to get DC output. In addition to powering the unit, the AC adapter can also recharge the battery. 

Ultralow Voltage Input 

It is also known as energy harvesting. It provides power to replace, supplement or charge batteries. A power converter is a key component of this system. This converter is capable of operating with ultralow voltage inputs. It captures, accumulates, stores and maintains a minute amount of energy. When the converter is in operation, this energy is stored as a source. Kinetic energy, wind energy, thermal energy or solar power can be a source of low-voltage inputs. 

There is a lot more to learn about power management and power management test.