The Blocks

[I believe this page is somewhat nonstandard too. I write things as I understand them, so this might not be aligned with modern terminology and such]

Here is the basic block-diagram layout of a voltage regulator. This applies to all regulators - switchmode, linear, or otherwise.

https://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa290/keantoken/RegulatorBlock.png

All types of regulators function in the same way. The area where the most difference occurs is in the Flow element.

The flow element is what controls the flow of power from the input to the output. In switching regulators, The flow element is a switching transistor connected to a reactive network. In a Linear regulator, the flow element is the pass transistor. Etc.

[This should be fairly straightforward. If I realize something needs to be added, I'll do so if no one has gotten to it first by then.]

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