What is a Switching Power Supply? AC/DC Switching Power Supply is designed for high efficiency and small size. They incorporate a switching regulator to convert electrical power efficiently. Switching DC power supplies regulate the output voltage through a process called pulse width modulation (PWM). Using a PWM allows various topologies to be used such as buck, boost, forward converter, half-bridge rectifier, or flyback depending on the output power requirements. The PWM process generates some high-frequency noise but enables the switching power supplies to be built with very high power efficiency and a small form factor. With a good design, a switching power supply can have excellent load and line regulation. They can either step up or step down the input voltage to get the desired output voltage. A switching power supply has greater efficiency than linear regulators because the switching transistor dissipates little power when acting as a switch. However, this switching can generate noise which can be lowered by filtering. If your equipment is for international use, switching technology works almost anywhere in the world whereas a linear power supply must be manually adjusted to work with a foreign grid. Other examples of applications that prefer a switching Open Frame Power Supply are general purpose ones used in R&D, manufacturing, and testing, high power / high current applications, some communication systems, mobile stations, some network equipment, electroplating, anodizing, electroforming, electrophoresis, electrolysis, waste treatment, hydrogen generator, fuel cell applications, DC motors, aviation, and shipboard/boat applications. What is an AC Adapter? An AC Power Adapter is an external power supply that converts alternating current (AC) from a wall outlet to a direct current (DC) needed by an electronic device. Therefore, it is an AC/DC converter. When it supplies power to a battery-powered device, it is also accurate to describe it as a charger. Before picking the right AC adapter for your device, it is useful to know the reasons most portable electronics use external power adapters. Installing the power components of devices in external AC adapters allows manufacturers to make them smaller. Those researching how to choose the right AC adapter should know that devices with external power adapters are lighter than those with integrated AC adapters. Having a separate and external AC/DC power adapter also reduces the heat produced inside an electronic device. This design also reduces electrical noise and improves safety. A manufacturer can also support a wide voltage range by choosing an external power supply when designing the right AC adapter for your device. Lastly, external power adapters are easier to replace. Users do not have to throw away their devices if voltage spikes, or in the case of brownouts or electrical fires destroy their external power supply units. Check Electrical Ratings to Choose the Right AC Adapter for Your Device Before trying to find a matching AC Desktop Power Adaptor for a device, check if the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) adapter is available. Device manufacturers sometimes offer replacement chargers/adapters for their products. Determining how to choose the right power adapter for a device becomes easy if this OEM accessory is available. Find the specific adapter for the device by searching for it using the model number printed on the adapter shipped with the device. In some cases, OEM adapters are no longer available from manufacturers. Therefore, finding the right AC adapter for your electronics requires selecting a compatible third-party accessory. The first step is to determine the electrical rating of the device. When learning how to choose an AC adapter, it is also necessary to understand power adapter specifications. Manufacturers usually print such information on the labels of these power accessories. Alternatively, check the device’s user manual for the electrical ratings of its AC adapter. The most important sections to read on a power adapter label are voltage and current. However, polarity is also an important factor. Remember the times when our smartphones required an entire night for a complete recharge? We are pretty sure there were also many instances here you left home with little charge on your phone and you might have regretted it. The introduction of fast Car Charger technology has changed it all. Just plug in your phone for a few minutes and your device has enough juice to keep running the entire day. Fast charging tech is a boon for smartphone users and it helps users to live their lives in the fast lane. Have you ever wondered how fast charging works? Dive in, to get a better understanding towards the fast charging technology. How does fast charging work? The fast charging follows the same principle as the standard charging but the electrical power (Ampere) converted and transferred via the cable is much higher than that of a standard charger. A standard adaptor’s voltage ranges from as low as 2 volts to 4.2 volts with a relatively low electrical transfer rate. However, a fast charging adaptor is capable of building a much higher voltage (5V-12V) with a faster electrical transfers until the battery reaches its peak voltage capacity. What does peak voltage capacity mean? It is the optimum capacity of a battery to charge quickly. As the battery reaches 50 to 60 per cent (peak voltage capacity of standard batteries), the electronic controller (IC) drops down the voltage intakes to prevent battery damage. A Fast Charger does not follow these rules as much. It pumps as much as current (Amperes) as it can, to quickly charge the battery. Many of us may might wonder why high voltages do not damage the battery? As the fast charging devices have a higher peak voltage capacity batteries and specially designed ICs, so it can pretty high voltages with ease. These devices generally have a peak voltage capacity of 80 per cent which is the reason fast charging is most effective when the battery percentage is below 50 percent. LED Drivers Keeping the above basic concepts in mind, it is obvious that designing a led driver means to design a current source circuit to drive the equivalent LED load, obtaining the total required luminous flux. Since the most common lighting applications are in the range 1W-100W, LED Drivers are designed as switching mode circuits in order to reduce the power losses that generate heat inside the lamp. While typical SMPS (Switching Mode Power supply) circuits have constant voltage output, a LED driver is a switching mode circuit with constant current output. There are two main categories of LED drivers: DC LED Drivers and AC LED Drivers.