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Voltageregulator
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Avoltageregulatorisdesignedtoautomaticallymaintaina
constantvoltagelevel.Avoltageregulatormaybeasimple"feed
forward"designormayincludenegativefeedbackcontrolloops.It
mayuseanelectromechanicalmechanism,orelectronic
components.Dependingonthedesign,itmaybeusedtoregulate
oneormoreACorDCvoltages.
Electronicvoltageregulatorsarefoundindevicessuchascomputer
powersupplieswheretheystabilizetheDCvoltagesusedbythe
processorandotherelements.Inautomobilealternatorsandcentral
powerstationgeneratorplants,voltageregulatorscontroltheoutput
oftheplant.Inanelectricpowerdistributionsystem,voltage
regulatorsmaybeinstalledatasubstationoralongdistributionlines
sothatallcustomersreceivesteadyvoltageindependentofhow
muchpowerisdrawnfromtheline.

Anintegratedcircuitvoltage
regulatorinaTO220stylepackage.
Suchdevicesarepopularbecausethey
requirefewornoexternal
componentsandprovidethefunctions
ofpasselement,voltagereference,
andprotectionfromovercurrentin
onepackage.

Contents
1
2
3
4

Electronicvoltageregulators
Electromechanicalregulators
Automaticvoltageregulator
ACvoltagestabilizers
4.1 CoilrotationACvoltageregulator
4.2 Electromechanical
4.3 PWMstaticvoltageregulator
4.4 Constantvoltagetransformer
4.5 Commercialuse
5 DCvoltagestabilizers
6 Activeregulators
6.1 Linearregulators
6.2 Switchingregulators
6.3 Comparinglinearversusswitchingregulators
6.4 SCRregulators
6.5 Combinationorhybridregulators
7 Examplelinearregulators
7.1 Transistorregulator
7.2 Regulatorwithanoperationalamplifier
8 Measuresofregulatorquality
9 Seealso
10 References
11 Furtherreading

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Electronicvoltageregulators
Asimplevoltage/currentregulatorcanbemadefromaresistorinserieswithadiode(orseriesofdiodes).
DuetothelogarithmicshapeofdiodeVIcurves,thevoltageacrossthediodechangesonlyslightlydueto
changesincurrentdrawnorchangesintheinput.Whenprecisevoltagecontrolandefficiencyarenot
important,thisdesignmayworkfine.
Feedbackvoltageregulatorsoperatebycomparingtheactualoutputvoltagetosomefixedreference
voltage.Anydifferenceisamplifiedandusedtocontroltheregulationelementinsuchawayastoreduce
thevoltageerror.Thisformsanegativefeedbackcontrolloopincreasingtheopenloopgaintendsto
increaseregulationaccuracybutreducestability.(Stabilityisavoidanceofoscillation,orringing,during
stepchanges.)Therewillalsobeatradeoffbetweenstabilityandthespeedoftheresponsetochanges.If
theoutputvoltageistoolow(perhapsduetoinputvoltagereducingorloadcurrentincreasing),the
regulationelementiscommanded,uptoapoint,toproduceahigheroutputvoltagebydroppinglessofthe
inputvoltage(forlinearseriesregulatorsandbuckswitchingregulators),ortodrawinputcurrentforlonger
periods(boosttypeswitchingregulators)iftheoutputvoltageistoohigh,theregulationelementwill
normallybecommandedtoproducealowervoltage.However,manyregulatorshaveovercurrent
protection,sothattheywillentirelystopsourcingcurrent(orlimitthecurrentinsomeway)iftheoutput
currentistoohigh,andsomeregulatorsmayalsoshutdowniftheinputvoltageisoutsideagivenrange
(seealso:crowbarcircuits).

Electromechanicalregulators
Inelectromechanicalregulators,voltageregulationis
easilyaccomplishedbycoilingthesensingwireto
makeanelectromagnet.Themagneticfieldproduced
bythecurrentattractsamovingferrouscoreheldback
underspringtensionorgravitationalpull.Asvoltage
increases,sodoesthecurrent,strengtheningthe
magneticfieldproducedbythecoilandpullingthecore
towardsthefield.Themagnetisphysicallyconnected
toamechanicalpowerswitch,whichopensasthe
magnetmovesintothefield.Asvoltagedecreases,so
doesthecurrent,releasingspringtensionortheweight
ofthecoreandcausingittoretract.Thisclosesthe
switchandallowsthepowertoflowoncemore.

Circuitdesignforasimpleelectromechanical
voltageregulator.

Ifthemechanicalregulatordesignissensitivetosmall
voltagefluctuations,themotionofthesolenoidcorecanbeusedtomoveaselectorswitchacrossarangeof
resistancesortransformerwindingstograduallysteptheoutputvoltageupordown,ortorotatetheposition
ofamovingcoilACregulator.
Earlyautomobilegeneratorsandalternatorshadamechanicalvoltageregulatorusingone,two,orthree
relaysandvariousresistorstostabilizethegenerator'soutputatslightlymorethan6or12V,independentof
theengine'srpmorthevaryingloadonthevehicle'selectricalsystem.Essentially,therelay(s)employed
pulsewidthmodulationtoregulatetheoutputofthegenerator,controllingthefieldcurrentreachingthe
generator(oralternator)andinthiswaycontrollingtheoutputvoltageproducingbackintothegenerator
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andattemptingtorunitasamotor.Therectifierdiodesinan
alternatorautomaticallyperformthisfunctionsothataspecificrelay
isnotrequiredthisappreciablysimplifiedtheregulatordesign.
Moremoderndesignsnowusesolidstatetechnology(transistors)to
performthesamefunctionthattherelaysperformin
electromechanicalregulators.
Electromechanicalregulatorsareusedformainsvoltage
stabilisationseeACvoltagestabilizersbelow.

Automaticvoltageregulator

Avoltagestabilizerusing
electromechanicalrelaysfor
switching.

Tocontroltheoutputofgenerators(asseeninshipsand
powerstations,oronoilrigs,greenhousesand
emergencypowersystems)automaticvoltageregulators
areused.Thisisanactivesystem.Whilethebasic
principleisthesame,thesystemitselfismorecomplex.
Anautomaticvoltageregulator(orAVRforshort)
consistsofseveralcomponentssuchasdiodes,
capacitors,resistorsandpotentiometersoreven
microcontrollers,allplacedonacircuitboard.Thisis
thenmountednearthegeneratorandconnectedwith
severalwirestomeasureandadjustthegenerator.
Graphofvoltageoutputonatimescale.
HowanAVRworks:InthefirstplacetheAVR
monitorstheoutputvoltageandcontrolstheinput
voltagefortheexciterofthegenerator.Byincreasingor
decreasingthegeneratorcontrolvoltage,theoutputvoltageofthe
generatorincreasesordecreasesaccordingly.TheAVRcalculates
howmuchvoltagehastobesenttotheexciternumeroustimesa
second,thereforestabilizingtheoutputvoltagetoapredetermined
setpoint.Whentwoormoregeneratorsarepoweringthesame
system(paralleloperation)theAVRreceivesinformationfrommore
generatorstomatchalloutput.

ACvoltagestabilizers
CoilrotationACvoltageregulator

Voltageregulatorforgenerators.

Thisisanoldertypeofregulatorusedinthe1920sthatusesthe
principleofafixedpositionfieldcoilandasecondfieldcoilthatcanberotatedonanaxisinparallelwith
thefixedcoil,similartoavariocoupler.
Whenthemovablecoilispositionedperpendiculartothefixedcoil,themagneticforcesactingonthe
movablecoilbalanceeachotheroutandvoltageoutputisunchanged.Rotatingthecoilinonedirectionor
theotherawayfromthecenterpositionwillincreaseordecreasevoltageinthesecondarymovablecoil.
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Thistypeofregulatorcanbeautomatedviaaservocontrol
mechanismtoadvancethemovablecoilpositioninorderto
providevoltageincreaseordecrease.Abrakingmechanismor
highratiogearingisusedtoholdtherotatingcoilinplace
againstthepowerfulmagneticforcesactingonthemovingcoil.

Electromechanical
Electromechanicalregulatorscalledvoltagestabilizersortap
Basicdesignprincipleandcircuitdiagram
changers,havealsobeenusedtoregulatethevoltageonAC
fortherotatingcoilACvoltageregulator.
powerdistributionlines.Theseregulatorsoperatebyusinga
servomechanismtoselecttheappropriatetaponan
autotransformerwithmultipletaps,orbymovingthewiperon
acontinuouslyvariableautotransfomer.Iftheoutputvoltageisnot
intheacceptablerange,theservomechanismswitchesthetap,
changingtheturnsratioofthetransformer,tomovethesecondary
voltageintotheacceptableregion.Thecontrolsprovideadeadband
whereinthecontrollerwillnotact,preventingthecontrollerfrom
constantlyadjustingthevoltage("hunting")asitvariesbyan
acceptablysmallamount.

PWMstaticvoltageregulator
Thisisthelatesttechnologyofvoltageregulationtoprovidereal
Magneticmainsregulator
timecontrolofvoltagefluctuation,sag,surgeandalsotocontrol
otherpowerqualityissuessuchasspikesandEMI/RFIelectrical
noises.ThisusesanIGBTregulatorenginegeneratingpulsewidthmodulated(PWM)ACvoltageathigh
switchingfrequency.ThisACPWMwaveissuperimposedonthemainincomingwavethroughabuck
boosttransformer,toprovidepreciselyregulatedACvoltage.Theregulationinthistechnologyis
instantaneous,thusmakingitsuitableforelectronicmachineswhichneedpreciseregulatedpower.

Constantvoltagetransformer
Theferroresonanttransformer,ferroresonantregulatororconstantvoltagetransformerisatypeof
saturatingtransformerusedasavoltageregulator.Thesetransformersuseatankcircuitcomposedofa
highvoltageresonantwindingandacapacitortoproduceanearlyconstantaverageoutputvoltagewitha
varyinginputcurrentorvaryingload.Thecircuithasaprimaryononesideofamagnetshuntandthetuned
circuitcoilandsecondaryontheotherside.Theregulationisduetomagneticsaturationinthesection
aroundthesecondary.
Theferroresonantapproachisattractiveduetoitslackofactivecomponents,relyingonthesquareloop
saturationcharacteristicsofthetankcircuittoabsorbvariationsinaverageinputvoltage.Saturating
transformersprovideasimpleruggedmethodtostabilizeanACpowersupply.
Olderdesignsofferroresonanttransformershadanoutputwithhighharmoniccontent,leadingtoa
distortedoutputwaveform.Moderndevicesareusedtoconstructaperfectsinewave.Theferroresonant
actionisafluxlimiterratherthanavoltageregulator,butwithafixedsupplyfrequencyitcanmaintainan
almostconstantaverageoutputvoltageevenastheinputvoltagevarieswidely.
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Theferroresonanttransformers,whicharealsoknownasConstantVoltageTransformers(CVTs)orferros,
arealsogoodsurgesuppressors,astheyprovidehighisolationandinherentshortcircuitprotection.
Aferroresonanttransformercanoperatewithaninputvoltagerange40%ormoreofthenominalvoltage.
Outputpowerfactorremainsintherangeof0.96orhigherfromhalftofullload.
Becauseitregeneratesanoutputvoltagewaveform,outputdistortion,whichistypicallylessthan4%,is
independentofanyinputvoltagedistortion,includingnotching.
Efficiencyatfullloadistypicallyintherangeof89%to93%.However,atlowloads,efficiencycandrop
below60%.ThecurrentlimitingcapabilityalsobecomesahandicapwhenaCVTisusedinanapplication
withmoderatetohighinrushcurrentlikemotors,transformersormagnets.Inthiscase,theCVThastobe
sizedtoaccommodatethepeakcurrent,thusforcingittorunatlowloadsandpoorefficiency.
Minimummaintenanceisrequired,astransformersandcapacitorscanbeveryreliable.Someunitshave
includedredundantcapacitorstoallowseveralcapacitorstofailbetweeninspectionswithoutanynoticeable
effectonthedevice'sperformance.
Outputvoltagevariesabout1.2%forevery1%changeinsupplyfrequency.Forexample,a2Hzchangein
generatorfrequency,whichisverylarge,resultsinanoutputvoltagechangeofonly4%,whichhaslittle
effectformostloads.
Itaccepts100%singlephaseswitchmodepowersupplyloadingwithoutanyrequirementforderating,
includingallneutralcomponents.
Inputcurrentdistortionremainslessthan8%THDevenwhensupplyingnonlinearloadswithmorethan
100%currentTHD.
DrawbacksofCVTsaretheirlargersize,audiblehummingsound,andthehighheatgenerationcausedby
saturation.

Commercialuse
Voltageregulatorsorstabilizersareusedtocompensateforvoltagefluctuationsinmainspower.Large
regulatorsmaybepermanentlyinstalledondistributionlines.Smallportableregulatorsmaybepluggedin
betweensensitiveequipmentandawalloutlet.Automaticvoltageregulatorsareusedongeneratorsetson
ships,inemergencypowersupplies,onoilrigs,etc.tostabilizefluctuationsinpowerdemand.Forexample,
whenalargemachineisturnedon,thedemandforpowerissuddenlyalothigher.Thevoltageregulator
compensatesforthechangeinload.Commercialvoltageregulatorsnormallyoperateonarangeof
voltages,forexample150240Vor90280V.Servostabilizersarealsomanufacturedandusedwidelyin
spiteofthefactthattheyareobsoleteanduseoutdatedtechnology.
Voltageregulatorsareusedindeviceslikeairconditioners,refrigerators,televisionsetc.inordertoprotect
themfromfluctuatinginputvoltage.Themajorproblemfacedistheuseofrelaysinvoltageregulators.
Relayscreatesparkswhichresultinfaultsintheproduct.

DCvoltagestabilizers
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ManysimpleDCpowersuppliesregulatethevoltageusingeither
seriesorshuntregulators,butmostapplyavoltagereferenceusinga
shuntregulatorsuchasaZenerdiode,avalanchebreakdowndiode,
orvoltageregulatortube.Eachofthesedevicesbeginsconductingat
aspecifiedvoltageandwillconductasmuchcurrentasrequiredto
holditsterminalvoltagetothatspecifiedvoltagebydiverting
excesscurrentfromanonidealpowersourcetoground,often
througharelativelylowvalueresistortodissipatetheexcessenergy.
Thepowersupplyisdesignedtoonlysupplyamaximumamountof
currentthatiswithinthesafeoperatingcapabilityoftheshunt
regulatingdevice.
Ifthestabilizermustprovidemorepower,theshuntregulatoroutput
isonlyusedtoprovidethestandardvoltagereferenceforthe
electronicdevice,knownasthevoltagestabilizer.Thevoltage
stabilizeristheelectronicdevice,abletodelivermuchlarger
currentsondemand.

Athreephasebankofvoltage
regulatorsusedtocontrolthevoltage
onlongACpowerdistributionlines.
Thisbankismountedonawooden
polestructure.Eachregulatorweighs
about2600lbsandisrated576kVA.

Activeregulators
Activeregulatorsemployatleastoneactive(amplifying)componentsuchasatransistororoperational
amplifier.Shuntregulatorsareoften(butnotalways)passiveandsimple,butalwaysinefficientbecause
they(essentially)dumptheexcesscurrentnottheload.Whenmorepowermustbesupplied,more
sophisticatedcircuitsareused.Ingeneral,theseactiveregulatorscanbedividedintoseveralclasses:
Linearseriesregulators
Switchingregulators
SCRregulators

Linearregulators
Linearregulatorsarebasedondevicesthatoperateintheirlinearregion(incontrast,aswitchingregulator
isbasedonadeviceforcedtoactasanon/offswitch).Inthepast,oneormorevacuumtubeswere
commonlyusedasthevariableresistance.Moderndesignsuseoneormoretransistorsinstead,perhaps
withinanintegratedcircuit.Lineardesignshavetheadvantageofvery"clean"outputwithlittlenoise
introducedintotheirDCoutput,butaremostoftenmuchlessefficientandunabletostepuporinvertthe
inputvoltagelikeswitchedsupplies.Alllinearregulatorsrequireahigherinputthantheoutput.Iftheinput
voltageapproachesthedesiredoutputvoltage,theregulatorwill"dropout".Theinputtooutputvoltage
differentialatwhichthisoccursisknownastheregulator'sdropoutvoltage.Lowdropoutregulators
(LDOs)allowaninputvoltagethatcanbemuchlower(i.e.,theywastelessenergythanconventionallinear
regulators).
Entirelinearregulatorsareavailableasintegratedcircuits.Thesechipscomeineitherfixedoradjustable
voltagetypes.

Switchingregulators
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Switchingregulatorsrapidlyswitchaseriesdeviceonandoff.Thedutycycleoftheswitchsetshowmuch
chargeistransferredtotheload.Thisiscontrolledbyasimilarfeedbackmechanismasinalinearregulator.
Becausetheserieselementiseitherfullyconducting,orswitchedoff,itdissipatesalmostnopowerthisis
whatgivestheswitchingdesignitsefficiency.Switchingregulatorsarealsoabletogenerateoutputvoltages
whicharehigherthantheinput,orofoppositepolaritysomethingnotpossiblewithalineardesign.
Likelinearregulators,nearlycompleteswitchingregulatorsarealsoavailableasintegratedcircuits.Unlike
linearregulators,theseusuallyrequireaninductorthatactsastheenergystorageelement.[1][2]

Comparinglinearversusswitchingregulators
Thetwotypesofregulatorshavetheirdifferentadvantages:
Linearregulatorsarebestwhenlowoutputnoise(andlowRFIradiatednoise)isrequired
Linearregulatorsarebestwhenafastresponsetoinputandoutputdisturbancesisrequired
Atlowpowerlevels,linearregulatorsarecheaperandoccupylessprintedcircuitboardspace
Switchingregulatorsarebestwhenpowerefficiencyiscritical(suchasinportablecomputers),
exceptthatlinearregulatorsaremoreefficientinasmallnumberofcases(suchasa5V
microprocessoroftenin"sleep"modefedfroma6Vbattery,ifthecomplexityoftheswitching
circuitandthejunctioncapacitancechargingcurrentmeansahighquiescentcurrentintheswitching
regulator)
SwitchingregulatorsarerequiredwhentheonlypowersupplyisaDCvoltage,andahigheroutput
voltageisrequired.
Atpowerlevelsaboveafewwatts,switchingregulatorsarecheaper(forexample,thecostof
removingheatgeneratedisless)

SCRregulators
RegulatorspoweredfromACpowercircuitscanusesiliconcontrolledrectifiers(SCRs)astheseries
device.Whenevertheoutputvoltageisbelowthedesiredvalue,theSCRistriggered,allowingelectricityto
flowintotheloaduntiltheACmainsvoltagepassesthroughzero(endingthehalfcycle).SCRregulators
havetheadvantagesofbeingbothveryefficientandverysimple,butbecausetheycannotterminatean
ongoinghalfcycleofconduction,theyarenotcapableofveryaccuratevoltageregulationinresponseto
rapidlychangingloads.AnalternativeistheSCRshuntregulatorwhichusestheregulatoroutputasa
trigger,bothseriesandshuntdesignsarenoisy,butpowerful,asthedevicehasalowonresistance.

Combinationorhybridregulators
Manypowersuppliesusemorethanoneregulatingmethodinseries.Forexample,theoutputfroma
switchingregulatorcanbefurtherregulatedbyalinearregulator.Theswitchingregulatoracceptsawide
rangeofinputvoltagesandefficientlygeneratesa(somewhatnoisy)voltageslightlyabovetheultimately
desiredoutput.Thatisfollowedbyalinearregulatorthatgeneratesexactlythedesiredvoltageand
eliminatesnearlyallthenoisegeneratedbytheswitchingregulator.OtherdesignsmayuseanSCR
regulatorasthe"preregulator",followedbyanothertypeofregulator.Anefficientwayofcreatinga
variablevoltage,accurateoutputpowersupplyistocombineamultitappedtransformerwithanadjustable
linearpostregulator.

Examplelinearregulators
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Transistorregulator
Inthesimplestcaseacommoncollectoramplifieralsoknownasemitterfollowerisusedwiththebaseof
theregulatingtransistorconnecteddirectlytothevoltagereference:

Asimpletransistorregulatorwillprovidearelativelyconstantoutputvoltage,Uout,forchangesinthe
voltageofthepowersource,Uin,andforchangesinload,RL,providedthatUinexceedsUoutbyasufficient
margin,andthatthepowerhandlingcapacityofthetransistorisnotexceeded.
TheoutputvoltageofthestabilizerisequaltotheZenerdiodevoltageminusthebaseemittervoltageof
thetransistor,UZUBE,whereUBEisusuallyabout0.7Vforasilicontransistor,dependingontheload
current.Iftheoutputvoltagedropsforanyexternalreason,suchasanincreaseinthecurrentdrawnbythe
load(causingadecreaseintheCollectorEmitterjunctionvoltagetoobserveKVL),thetransistor'sbase
emittervoltage(UBE)increases,turningthetransistoronfurtheranddeliveringmorecurrenttoincreasethe
loadvoltageagain.
RvprovidesabiascurrentforboththeZenerdiodeandthetransistor.Thecurrentinthediodeisminimum
whentheloadcurrentismaximum.Thecircuitdesignermustchooseaminimumvoltagethatcanbe
toleratedacrossRv,bearinginmindthatthehigherthisvoltagerequirementis,thehighertherequiredinput
voltage,Uin,andhencethelowertheefficiencyoftheregulator.Ontheotherhand,lowervaluesofRvlead
tohigherpowerdissipationinthediodeandtoinferiorregulatorcharacteristics.[3]
Rvisgivenby:

whereVRministheminimumvoltagetobemaintainedacrossRv
IDministheminimumcurrenttobemaintainedthroughtheZenerdiode
ILmaxisthemaximumdesignloadcurrent
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hFEistheforwardcurrentgainofthetransistor(IC/IB).[3]

Regulatorwithanoperationalamplifier
Thestabilityoftheoutputvoltagecanbesignificantlyincreasedbyusinganoperationalamplifier:

Inthiscase,theoperationalamplifierdrivesthetransistorwithmorecurrentifthevoltageatitsinverting
inputdropsbelowtheoutputofthevoltagereferenceatthenoninvertinginput.Usingthevoltagedivider
(R1,R2andR3)allowschoiceofthearbitraryoutputvoltagebetweenUzandUin.

Measuresofregulatorquality
Theoutputvoltagecanonlybeheldroughlyconstant.Theregulationisspecifiedbytwomeasurements:
Loadregulationisthechangeinoutputvoltageforagivenchangeinloadcurrent(forexample,
"typically15mV,maximum100mVforloadcurrentsbetween5mAand1.4A,atsomespecified
temperatureandinputvoltage").
Lineregulationorinputregulationisthedegreetowhichoutputvoltagechangeswithinput
(supply)voltagechangesasaratioofoutputtoinputchange(forexample,"typically13mV/V"),or
theoutputvoltagechangeovertheentirespecifiedinputvoltagerange(forexample,"plusorminus
2%forinputvoltagesbetween90Vand260V,5060Hz").
Otherimportantparametersare:
Temperaturecoefficientoftheoutputvoltageisthechangewithtemperature(perhapsaveraged
overagiventemperaturerange).
Initialaccuracyofavoltageregulator(orsimply"thevoltageaccuracy")reflectstheerrorinoutput
voltageforafixedregulatorwithouttakingintoaccounttemperatureoragingeffectsonoutput
accuracy.
Dropoutvoltageistheminimumdifferencebetweeninputvoltageandoutputvoltageforwhichthe
regulatorcanstillsupplythespecifiedcurrent.Alowdropout(LDO)regulatorisdesignedtowork
wellevenwithaninputsupplyofonlyaVoltorsoabovetheoutputvoltage.Theinputoutput
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differentialatwhichthevoltageregulatorwillnolongermaintainregulationisthedropoutvoltage.
Furtherreductionininputvoltagewillresultinreducedoutputvoltage.Thisvalueisdependenton
loadcurrentandjunctiontemperature.
Absolutemaximumratingsaredefinedforregulatorcomponents,specifyingthecontinuousand
peakoutputcurrentsthatmaybeused(sometimesinternallylimited),themaximuminputvoltage,
maximumpowerdissipationatagiventemperature,etc.
Outputnoise(thermalwhitenoise)andoutputdynamicimpedancemaybespecifiedasgraphs
versusfrequency,whileoutputripplenoise(mains"hum"orswitchmode"hash"noise)maybe
givenaspeaktopeakorRMSvoltages,orintermsoftheirspectra.
Quiescentcurrentinaregulatorcircuitisthecurrentdrawninternally,notavailabletotheload,
normallymeasuredastheinputcurrentwhilenoloadisconnectedandhenceasourceofinefficiency
(somelinearregulatorsare,surprisingly,moreefficientatverylowcurrentloadsthanswitchmode
designsbecauseofthis).
Transientresponseisthereactionofaregulatorwhena(sudden)changeoftheloadcurrent(called
theloadtransient)orinputvoltage(calledthelinetransient)occurs.Someregulatorswilltendto
oscillateorhaveaslowresponsetimewhichinsomecasesmightleadtoundesiredresults.This
valueisdifferentfromtheregulationparameters,asthatisthestablesituationdefinition.The
transientresponseshowsthebehaviouroftheregulatoronachange.Thisdataisusuallyprovidedin
thetechnicaldocumentationofaregulatorandisalsodependentonoutputcapacitance.
Mirrorimageinsertionprotectionmeansthataregulatorisdesignedforusewhenavoltage,
usuallynothigherthanthemaximuminputvoltageoftheregulator,isappliedtoitsoutputpinwhile
itsinputterminalisatalowvoltage,voltfreeorgrounded.Someregulatorscancontinuously
withstandthissituation.Othersmightonlymanageitforalimitedtimesuchas60seconds(usually
specifiedinthedatasheet).Forinstance,thissituationcanoccurwhenathreeterminalregulatoris
incorrectlymountedonaPCB,withtheoutputterminalconnectedtotheunregulatedDCinputand
theinputconnectedtotheload.Mirrorimageinsertionprotectionisalsoimportantwhenaregulator
circuitisusedinbatterychargingcircuits,whenexternalpowerfailsorisnotturnedonandthe
outputterminalremainsatbatteryvoltage.

Seealso
Constantcurrentregulator
DCtoDCconverter
ListofLMseriesintegratedcircuits
Lowdropoutregulator
Thirdbrushdynamo
Voltageregulatormodule

References
1.TexasInstrumentsLM2825IntegratedPower
Supply1ADCDCConverter,retrieved20100919
2.LinearTechnologyModuleRegulators,retrieved
20110308
3.Alley,CharlesAtwood,Kenneth(1973).Electronic

3.Alley,CharlesAtwood,Kenneth(1973).Electronic
Engineering.NewYorkandLondon:JohnWiley&
Sons.p.534.ISBN0471024503.

OrteaAutomaticVoltageregilator(http://www.ortea.it/en/automaticvoltageregulator/)

Furtherreading
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Linear&SwitchingVoltageRegulatorHandbookON
Semiconductor118pages2002HB206/D.(FreePDF
download)(http://www.onsemi.com/pub_link/Collateral/HB206D.PD
F)

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mediarelatedtoVoltage
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