Analog Building Blocks of DC-DC Converters

Examining Fundamental Concepts

authored by

Bernhard Wicht

Abstract

Dc-dc conversion plays the central part in the growing field of power management, which converts input voltages from various different energy sources into circuit-level voltages. At the system level, input voltages may range from a few millivolts (in the case of energy harvesting) to a few volts (in the case of low-voltage batteries). There is a trend toward higher voltages driven by the need to minimize dc-dc conversion losses. For this reason, servers in data centers utilize an intermediate voltage of 48 V [1]. Likewise, hybrid and electric cars are equipped with a 48-V battery in addition to the conventional 12-V board net and the ∼400-V high-voltage battery that supplies the drive train [1]. Other applications with higher voltages include USB, e-bikes, or drones.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Microelectronic Systems
Mixed-Signal Circuits Section

Type

Article

Journal

IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine

Volume

12

Pages

42-47

No. of pages

6

ISSN

1943-0582

Publication date

25.08.2020

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1109/mssc.2020.3002141 (Access: Closed)