World of voltage regulators - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: matrixofdynamism
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2023, 05:46:41 pm
content: I am trying to figure out a way to get an understanding of the world of the voltage regulator products that are sold in the market. I am an electronic engineer myself (FPGA, RTL, Verification side) and am trying to learn PCB design nowadays.I know the basic idea of voltage regulator, it is a device that is designed to maintain output voltage at a fixed value inspite of change in the load. There are basically two types, linear and switched. The switched type has higher efficiency. I do not fully understand their internal working. The special features that I know of are short circuit protection i.e shut down the output voltage supply if the current load goes above a certain level and overheat protection i.e shut down the voltage supply if the temperature of the voltage regulator goes above a certain level. The voltage regulators will need some external components to be connected so they can work. This is the gist of what I know.Now, what I am trying to do is, find a resource that rather than explain what a voltage regulator is, actually explains what voltage regulator types and features exist in the market. In my search I either find very basic information material or very specialized. I just need something that says, ok here in the market we have products of XYZ categories and these have XYZ features and this is how to choose the right voltage regulator for your application for the 1000s of products that exist. Are you aware of a resource that can explain this?

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2023, 06:50:41 pm
content: I don't have a good general reference to suggest, but there is another important feature of voltage regulators: the output voltage should be (almost) constant when the input voltage changes.That feature is incorrectly called "line regulation" or "source regulation" (although the source is not regulated), and is quantified as change in output (absolute or percentage) per change in input voltage.The feature in your discussion is usually called "load regulation", being the change in output with change in load current.As a specific example of a linear regulator, see the TI datasheethttps://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm7800.pdfwith definitions of these parameters and specifications for specific parts.

author: HalFoster
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2023, 07:05:50 pm
content: I am just amazed that an someone that professes to be an electronic engineer doesn't have a copy of The Art of Electronics. Seriously, it will answer your questions and then some - the version 2 release is available for free as a PDF on the web - just google for it. Or, better yet, version 3 is on Amazon.Hal

author: AnalogTodd
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2023, 07:10:36 pm
content: There are a few good resources out there, some of which get more technical than others. For a good primer on linear regulators, look at an old app note that came from National Semiconductor (rebranded now as Texas Instruments since the acquisition):https://www.ti.com/lit/an/snva020b/snva020b.pdfWith regards to switching regulators, a good source is Carl Nelson's AN-19 from Linear Technology on designing with the LT1070. It covers many different types of basic switching circuits and can be found here:https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/application-notes/an19fc.pdf

author: HarryDoPECC
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 12, 2023, 11:46:31 pm
content: +1 +1 for ArtOfElectronics.Sounds like that's exactly where you should start, then AppNotes etc.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2023, 12:05:25 am
content: OP even saying .....you have so many technologies / topologies etc .... sure the book will helpbut i would say your search is to wide and unclear to me, even with your mentioned supply "protections"load and line regulations, yes, different types of protection cc cv thermal, short, crowbar, remote control, sense lines ....i have seen so many things, discovered new ones, and ones that are incredibly small .... some under 5mm square and can pump 3 amps

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2023, 12:48:38 am
content: you have to grind 317's solo for a long time to learn the game and then you can get eventually level up enough to fight batteries, generators, noise and the power company in various corporate dungeons...Right now the top level boss is mr. fusion, but people can't seem to get high enough thermal resistance gear to down him yet.

author: dobsonr741
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2023, 02:54:29 am
content: The big fork on the road is to use a linear vs a switching regulator. Then different features will emerge. In some cases you use them in series. Another option for switching is to have isolation or not.The two big competing opposite features are noise/ripple vs dissipated power/power loss. Beyond this point I suggest going on ti.com, has awesome amount of learning materials. Next best is analog.com for their Linear product line acquisition and the great Linear app notes.

author: matrixofdynamism
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 22, 2023, 12:08:12 am
content: Thanks for these answers, I am using the Art of Electronics now.