C h a p t e r 1
Well-designed power management
solutions are a necessity for successfully
designing with modern digital devices.
The best power management design is
as seamless as possible with minimal
transfer losses.
In an ideal world, a power supply should
occupy little to no space or volume. The
best outcome is to make it as small and
efficient as possible with the defined
output voltage perfectly regulated,
even as the capability and complexity
of microcontrollers, processors, and
FPGAs increase.
Power management is tasked with several
critical responsibilities, no matter the
power source or device. It must regulate
and stabilize voltage correctly for each
component. Through sequencing, power
management must control when the
various parts of a device are powered
up or down, and DC-DC conversion is
required to convert voltages in devices
with varying power requirements, often
from high-voltage DC to lower-voltage DC.
If batteries are involved, power
management controls charging,
discharging, and power distribution.
In some devices, circuits that convert
harvested energy from the environment,
WHAT IS POWER
MANAGEMENT?
Emmanuel Loza
Director, Power Systems Applications, Analog Devices
Think of power management as early
as possible. It's often the last part
of a design to be planned, yet the
first to be blamed when something
goes wrong."
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Power Management: Efficiently Powering Processors, FPGAs, and Microcontrollers
