For the PDF version of this article, click here. In all switching regulators, the inductor is used as an energy storage device. When the semiconductor switch is on, the current in the inductor ramps ...

Inductors have the exact opposite characteristics of capacitors. Inductors store energy in a magnetic field (produced by the current through wire), whereas capacitors store energy in an electric field ...

In the conventional dc-dc converter buck topology (Fig. 1), power from the input voltage source is transferred to the output filter by turning on the pass transistor. When the pass transistor is on, ...

Torex Semiconductor has created a nano-power dc-dc converter that can occupy only 7.7 x 3.1mm with all external capacitors – the necessary inductor is inside the device package. Called XCL108 and ...

Explore how vertical power delivery enhances efficiency by embedding components within PCBs and reducing power losses.

Some 99 percent of the “design” problems associated with linear and switching regulators can be traced directly to the improper use of capacitors: wrong type, wrong value, or incorrect physical ...

Last month's column explained that AC current flowing through an inductance reaches its peak amplitude after the voltage. Lagging current is characteristic of an inductive circuit. Capacitive circuits ...

Mathieu Renaud, Senior Power Management Designer, Intégration Dolphin Inc. Yves Gagnon, Executive Director, Intégration Dolphin Inc. Inductor-based Switching Regulators (SR) have historically ...

In the race for ever-improving technology, there are two related technical capabilities that drive our world forward: speed and size. These are related, as the smaller a device is, the less distance ...