Troubleshooting Distributed Power Systems (Part 1): Why Stability Matters

Focus:

Control-loop stability impacts power supply performance in multiple ways. Even if the control loop is not oscillating, poor stability—as evidenced by low phase margin—in voltage regulator and reference circuits can lead to problems such as poor PSRR or reverse transfer performance. What’s more, many system-level problems such as clock jitter, noise-induced degradation of circuit performance, and EMI can be traced back to poor control-loop stability in the power supply. In this 5-minute video presentation, Steve Sandler discusses how stability impacts circuit performance, offering examples that demonstrate the effects of stability problems on both power supply and system performance.

What you’ll learn:

• How to understand the impact of poor control-loop stability on PSRR, reverse transfer and other parameters of voltage regulators and references
• How to understand the impact of poor power supply control-loop stability at the system-level where it can cause clock jitter and other noise-related problems

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Author & Publication:

Steve Sandler, AEi Systems and Picotest, Phoenix, Ariz. , How2Power Today, May 15 2013

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