Power electronics: conversion and management -reading guide and perspectives

This article provides a brief introduction to power electronics in its acceptance for low-power electronic applications, i.e. a very wide range of products where linear voltage regulation is now prohibited. However, the worlds of low-level electronics and power electronics are not entirely separate. Rarely does a course on CMOS analog circuit design cover the fundamentals of static power conversion. The opposite is also true, but that's not the point here.

This led to the idea of offering experts unfamiliar with the fundamentals of power electronics a collection dedicated to their specific needs. Static conversion often involves converting a DC voltage, or making it dependent on a time-varying reference, or producing a negative image of a voltage, but with high energy efficiency. Static conversion covers these and many other functions, but we've deliberately kept the focus to a few selected concepts, such as conversion without galvanic isolation.

The switching mechanism, i.e. the abrupt interruption of a current path to manage its quantity, is not favored by engineers in charge of designing delicate electronic functions, as they are confronted with noise, more generally recognized under the term ElectroMagnetic Compatibility or EMC. Finally, unlike a linear regulator in the form of an integrated circuit, a switching voltage converter (with discrete components) requires a control loop whose bandwidth, stability and dynamic performance must be mastered. This is a highly complex field, and the aim of this collection is to cover a few basic principles without going into excessive detail.

The purpose of this article is to provide a reading guide, to recall the motivations and choices made to offer a range of articles, neither too simplistic nor too complicated, and to introduce the wealth of concepts in power electronics. The section is set to expand, and prospects are also outlined. The aim is to encourage experts unfamiliar with power electronics to browse the sub-sections dedicated to the subject.

A table of acronyms is provided at the end of the article.