SMPS - Switch Mode Power Supply
The power supply in the case of the computer system is provided by the SMPS – Switch Mode Power Supply. The supply forms one of the most essential and vital elements of any electrical or electronics equipment. It is the provider of power which actually energizes the electrical or electronic circuits and enables them to operate.
It may not be in – appropriate to compare it with the role that the heart plays in the functioning of a human body. A power system is responsible for the processing of the power and its conversion and translation from one form (input) into another (output). The hardware instrumental in carrying out this power processing is known as the power system.
The successful working of any piece of electrical or electronics equipment is largely dependent on the proper and reliable functioning of the power supply. As the name itself indicates SMPS, where in switching transistors are used as a switch for the rapidly opening and closing the circuit to control or to regulate the output supply.
Basically switching regulators consist of the switching elements or the switching transistors that can be operated rapidly for the opening and the closing of the circuit. In this way it can chop the input DC voltage at a very high frequency that can be of about 15 to 20 kilo hertz.
This frequency is then converted in to the square wave. Once it is chopped into a square wave, it can be stepped up or stepped down by using a transformer and the voltage that is developed on the secondary end can be rectified as well as filtered.
The regulation of the output DC voltage can be achieved by using a control circuit, in which the control senses the output voltage and if it tends to vary, it can be controlled by adjusting the data cycle.
The adjustments in the data cycle can be done using the ON and OFF periods of a switching transistor. This could be done in such a way so as to counteract the changes in the output voltage.
Apart from all these discussions there are many advantages of the SMPS over the Normal power supply. The design is based on the DC – AC – DC converters which will give the maximum power efficiency.
