What is a Switching Power Supply?

Power supplies come in many shapes and forms. We The gates of these MOSFET transistors get fed with
will refer to what is known as a switching power supply, a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal of constant
sometimes otherwise described as a switched mode frequency by an oscillator. This is normally of a
power supply. In short usually called a switcher or range from 50 to 300 KHz, and chops the DC
SMPS. voltage into high frequency AC.
What is a Switching Power Supply?

Every electronic circuit needs a source of voltage.
Essentially all electronic devices which use the AC main
supply, have to provide a circuit which will operate on a
different voltage than the 1 20 VAC standard supply. This
is achieved with a special kind of circuit known as a
power supply. These are usually categorised into two
distinct groups.
The most familiar and
common type of design is
the linear power supply.
These involve a brute force
means of converting power
and regulation. The
standard AC supply is
routed into a transformer
that converts that 1 20 VAC
to the maximum amount
needed by the circuit it has
to supply. The lower voltage then gets converted via a
bridge rectifier to DC, and in turn is then regulated by a
transistor. This transistor is connected on a linear range,
hence the terminology of linear power supply.
A large plus to having a linear power supply, is their
design being fundamentally basic and simple. Some
downsides are their relatively large physical size, their
weight, heat generation and a tendency to be inefficient;
no more than 50%.
The second type; Switching Mode Power Supplies
(SMPS), have more complex designs than the linear
types. This gives the SMPS a lot more versatility; its
design permits inputs of either DC or AC, plus it is able
to output voltages in DC or AC as well, depending of
course if it has the circuit topology to allow this.
One of the most common AC to DC SMPS designs has
an AC mains input fed into a bridge rectifier; which
converts the voltage to DC. The DC then gets routed
into a chopper stage; which consists of very efficient
MOSFET switching transistors.
Then the AC feeds into the primary winding of a
high frequency transformer, whose secondary
winding then gets rectified to DC, which makes it
useable for the circuits that need it. The output
voltage is regulated by means of circuit which
samples it, and tells the PWM oscillator when it
needs to vary the ratio of transistor on to off in
order to ensure a constant voltage output.
SMPS design has a number of advantages over
linear. Its high efficiency of switching transistors (80
to 90%) prevents significant energy wastage in the
form of heat. Plus its high operating frequency
provides for lighter, smaller transformers to be
used.
If AC mains supply is not possible, for example in
motor vehicles; only the rectifier stage in the power
supply input needs removing in the design. A high
frequency transformer with the correct turns ratio for
the required output voltage must be used.
In conclusion, the primary advantages of SMPS are
its very high efficiency and its much smaller weight
and size. Because portability and efficiency are now
so important, SMPS has rapidly become the
desired standard in power supply circuits.

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