We often use linear regulators in our designs. They are cheap and simple – you put the regulator chip itself on the board, add two capacitors, and get a voltage. Linear regulators are imperfect, of course – they can’t help but waste the voltage difference as heat, for a start, which straight up excludes them for high-current purposes, or significant voltage difference conversions, unless you have a hefty heatsink handy. They also can’t boost voltage, which means you can only go from high to low – a bit of a disappointment.
Of course, we haven’t been just throwing our hands up in the air if a linear regulator doesn’t fit our purpose. Switching regulators have none of these disadvantages, which is why your mobile phone alone has a few dozen of these. They are way more efficient and hi-tec, able to convert one voltage into another while losing hardly any power into heat. All that you need to do is switch an inductor at a somewhat high frequency!
However, for some, switching regulators might look a bit intimidating. They tend to have higher standards for board layout compared to linear regulators, and, they do need an inductor – sometimes, a few more components too. Inductors alone are somewhat intimidating components, with a fair few more parameters than we’d expect, and you might get confused when looking into adding a switching regulator to your circuit.
No more! In this article, I shall give you the switching regulator basics, remove any fog of war that might be clouding your vision, and show you just how easily you can get a good few amps at your favourite voltage whenever you need it. Continue reading “Switching Regulators For Dummies”
