Chapter 6:

Voltage Regulator

Analogue Electronic
 Outline

Introduction
Voltage Regulation
Line Regulation
Load Regulation
Series Regulator
Shunt Regulator
Switching Regulator
IC Voltage Regulator
 Introduction

Batteries are often shown on a schematic diagram as the

source of DC voltage but usually the actual DC voltage
source is a power supply.
There are many types of power supply. Most are designed
to convert high voltage AC mains electricity to a suitable
low voltage supply for electronics circuits and other
devices.
A more reliable method of obtaining DC power is to
transform, rectify, filter and regulate an AC line voltage.
A power supply can by broken down into a series of blocks,
each of which performs a particular function.
 Introduction

Power supply: a group of circuits that convert the

standard ac voltage (120 V, 60 Hz) provided by the wall
outlet to constant dc voltage
Transformer : a device that step up or step down the ac
voltage provided by the wall outlet to a desired amplitude
through the action of a magnetic field
 Introduction

Rectifier: a diode circuits that converts the ac input

voltage to a pulsating dc voltage
The pulsating dc voltage is only suitable to be used as a
battery charger, but not good enough to be used as a dc
power supply in a radio, stereo system, computer and so
on.
 Introduction

There are two basic types of rectifier circuits:

Half-wave rectifier
Full-wave rectifier - Center-tapped & Bridge full-wave rectifier
In summary, a full-wave rectified signal has less ripple
than a half-wave rectified signal and is thus better to apply
to a filter.
 Introduction

Filter: a circuit used to reduce the fluctuation in the

rectified output voltage or ripple. This provides a steadier
dc voltage.
Regulator: a circuit used to produces a constant dc
output voltage by reducing the ripple to negligible amount.
One part of power supply.
 Introduction

Regulator - Zener diode regulator

For low current power supplies - a simple voltage regulator
can be made with a resistor and a zener diode connected in
reverse.
Zener diodes are rated by their breakdown voltage Vz and
maximum power Pz (typically 400mW or 1.3W)
 Voltage Regulation

Two basic categories of voltage regulation are:

line regulation

load regulation

The purpose of line regulation is to maintain a nearly

constant output voltage when the input voltage varies.

The purpose of load regulation is to maintain a nearly

constant output voltage when the load varies

 Line Regulation

Line regulation: A change in input (line) voltage does not significantly affect the
output voltage of a regulator (within certain limits)
 Line Regulation

Line regulation can be defined as the percentage change in

the output voltage for a given change in the input voltage.
VOUT
Line regulation 100%
VIN
means a change in
Line regulation can be calculated using the following
formula:

Line regulation
VOUT / VOUT 100%
VIN
 Load Regulation

Load regulation: A change in load current (due to a varying RL) has practically no
effect on the output voltage of a regulator (within certain limits)
 Load Regulation

Load regulation can be defined as the percentage change

in the output voltage from no-load (NL) to full-load (FL).

VNL VFL
Load regulation 100%
VFL
Where:
VNL = the no-load output voltage
VFL = the full-load output voltage
 Load Regulation

Sometimes power supply manufacturers specify the

equivalent output resistance (Rout) instead of its load
regulation.

RFL equal the smallest-rated load resistance, then VFL:

RFL

VFL VNL
ROUT RFL
 Load Regulation

Rearrange the equation:

ROUT RFL

VNL VFL
RFL
ROUT RFL
VFL VFL
Load regulation RFL 100%
VFL
ROUT RFL
Load regulation 1 100%
RFL
ROUT
Load regulation 100%
RFL
 Example

1. The input of a certain regulator increases by 3.5 V. As a

result, the output voltage increases by 0.042 V. The
nominal output is 20 V. Determine the line regulation in
both % and in %/V.
(Solution: 1.2% ; 0.06%/V)

2. If a 5 V power supply has an output resistance of 80 m

and a specific maximum output current of 1 A. Calculate
the load regulation in % and %/mA.
(Solution: 1.6% ; 0.0016%/mA)
 Types of Regulator

Fundamental classes of voltage regulators are linear

regulators and switching regulators.
Two basic types of linear regulator are the series regulator
and the shunt regulator .
The series regulator is connected in series with the load
and the shunt regulator is connected in parallel with the
load.
 Series Regulator Circuit

Control element in series

with load between input
and output.
Output sample circuit
senses a change in output
voltage.
Error detector compares
sample voltage with
reference voltage
causes control element to
compensate in order to
maintain a constant output
voltage.
Op-Amp Series Regulator
Control Element

VREF

Sample
Error Detector Circuit
 Op-Amp Series Regulator

The resistor R1 and R2 sense a change in the output

voltage and provide a feedback voltage.
The error detector compares the feedback voltage with a
Zener diode reference voltage.
The resulting difference voltage causes the transistor Q1
controls the conduction to compensate the variation of the
output voltage.
The output voltage will be maintained at a constant value
of:
R1
Vo 1 VZ
R2
 Transistor Series Regulator

The transistor Q1 is the series control element.

Zener diode provides the reference voltage.
 Transistor Series Regulator

Since Q1 is an npn transistor, Vo is found as:

VBE VZ Vo
the response of the pass-transistor to a change in load
resistance as follows:
If load resistance increases, load voltage also increases.
Since the Zener voltage is constant, the increase in Vo causes VBE to
decrease.
The decrease in VBE reduces conduction through the pass- transistor,
so load current decreases.
This offsets the increase in load resistance, and a relatively constant
load voltage is maintained
 Example

Determine the output voltage for the regulator below.

(Solution: 10.2 V)
 Example

Calculate the output voltage and Zener current for RL=1k.

(Solution: Vo=11.3 V; Iz36 mA)
 Shunt Regulator Circuit
The unregulated input voltage
provides current to the load.
Some of the current is pulled
away by the control element.
If the load voltage tries to
change due to a change in the
load resistance, the sampling
circuit provides a feedback
signal to a comparator.
The resulting difference voltage
then provides a control signal to
vary the amount of the current
shunted away from the load to
maintain the regulated output
voltage across the load.
Op-Amp Shunt Regulator
 Op-Amp Shunt Regulator

When the output voltage tries to decrease due to a change

in input voltage or load current caused by a change in load
resistance, the decrease is sensed by R1 and R2.
A feedback voltage obtained from voltage divider R1 and
R2 is applied to the op-amps non-inverting input and
compared to the Zener voltage to control the drive current
to the transistor.
The current through resistor RS is thus controlled to drop a
voltage across RS so that the output voltage is maintained.
 Transistor Shunt Regulator

The control element is a transistor, in parallel with the load.

While, the resistor, RS, is in series with the load.
The operation of the transistor shunt regulator is similar to
that of the transistor series regulator, except that regulation
is achieved by controlling the current through the
parallel transistor
 Transistor Shunt Regulator

Resistor RS drops the

unregulated voltage depends
on current supplied to load RL.
Voltage across the load is set
by zener diode and transistor
base-emitter voltage.
If RL decrease, a reduced drive
current to base of Q1
shunting less collector current.
Load current, IL is larger,
maintaining the regulated
voltage across load.
 Transistor Shunt Regulator

The output voltage to the load is:

Vo VL VZ VBE
voltage across the load is set by the Zener diode voltage
and the transistor base-emitter voltage.
If the load resistance decreases, the load current will be
larger at a value of: VL
IL
RL
The increase in load current causes the collector current
shunted by the transistor is to be less:
IC I S I L
Vi VL
The current through RS: IS
RS
 Example

Determine the regulated voltage, VL and circuit currents.

(Solution: VL=8.9 V; IL=89 mA; IS=109 mA; IC=20 mA)
 Switching Regulator

The switching regulator is

a type of regulator circuit
which its efficient transfer
of power to the load is
greater than series and
shunt regulators because
the transistor is not always
conducting.
The switching regulator
passes voltage to the load
in pulses, which then
filtered to provide a smooth
dc voltage.
 Switching Regulator

The switching regulator is more efficient than the linear

series or shunt type.
This type regulator is ideal for high current applications
since less power is dissipated.
Voltage regulation in a switching regulator is achieved by
the on and off action limiting the amount of current flow
based on the varying line and load conditions.
With switching regulators 90% efficiencies can be achieved.
 Switching Regulator

Step-Down Configuration
With the step-down (output is less than the input)
configuration the control element Q1 is pulsed on and off at
variable rate based on the load current.
The pulsations are filtered out by the LC filter.
 Switching Regulator

Step-up configuration
The difference is in the placement of the inductor and the
fact that Q1 is shunt configured.
During the time when Q1 is off the VL adds to VC stepping
the voltage up by some amount.
 Switching Regulator

Voltage-inverter configuration
output voltage is of opposite polarity of the input.
This is achieved by VL forward-biasing reverse-biased
diode during the off times producing current and charging
the capacitor for voltage production during the off times.
With switching regulators 90% efficiencies can be achieved.
 IC Voltage Regulators

Regulation circuits in integrated circuit form are widely

used.
Their operation is no different but they are treated as a
single device with associated components.
These are generally three terminal devices that provide a
positive or negative output.
Some types have variable voltage outputs.
A typical 7800 series voltage regulator is used for positive
voltages.
The 7900 series are negative voltage regulators.
These voltage regulators when used with heatsinks can
safely produce current values of 1A and greater.
The capacitors act as line filtration.
 IC Voltage Regulators

Several types of both linear (series and shunt) and

switching regulators are available in integrated circuit (IC)
form.
Single IC regulators contain the circuitry for:
(1) reference source
(2) comparator amplifier
(3) control device
(4) overload protection
Generally, the linear regulators are three-terminal devices
that provides either positive or negative output voltages that
can be either fixed or adjustable.
 Fixed Voltage Regulator

The fixed voltage regulator has an unregulated dc input

voltage Vi applied to one input terminal, a regulated output
dc voltage Vo from a second terminal, and the third terminal
connected to ground.
Fixed-Positive Voltage Regulator
The series 78XX regulators are the three-terminal devices
that provide a fixed positive output voltage.
 Fixed Voltage Regulator

An unregulated input
voltage Vi is filtered by a
capacitor C1 and
connected to the ICs IN
terminal.
The ICs OUT terminal
provides a regulated +12
V, which is filtered by
capacitor C2.
The third IC terminal is
connected to ground
(GND)
 Fixed Voltage Regulator

Positive-Voltage Regulators in the 78XX Series

IC Part Output Voltage (V) Minimum Vi (V)

7805 +5 +7.3
7806 +6 +8.3
7808 +8 +10.5
7810 +10 +12.5
7812 +12 +14.5
7815 +15 +17.7
7818 +18 +21.0
7824 +24 +27.1
 Fixed Voltage Regulator

Fixed-Negative Voltage Regulator

The series 79XX regulators are the three-terminal IC
regulators that provide a fixed negative output voltage.
This series has the same features and characteristics as
the series 78XX regulators except the pin numbers are
different.
 Fixed Voltage Regulator

Negative-Voltage Regulators in the 79XX Series

IC Part Output Voltage (V) Minimum Vi (V)

7905 -5 -7.3
7906 -6 -8.4
7908 -8 -10.5
7909 -9 -11.5
7912 -12 -14.6
7915 -15 -17.7
7918 -18 -20.8
7924 -24 -27.1
 Fixed Voltage Regulator

Adjustable-Voltage Regulator
Voltage regulators are also available in circuit
configurations that allow to set the output voltage to a
desired regulated value.
The LM317 is an example of an adjustable-voltage
regulator, can be operated over the range of voltage from
1.2 to 37 V.
 Summary

Voltage regulators keep a constant dc output

despite input voltage or load changes.
The two basic categories of voltage regulators are
linear and switching.
The two types of linear voltage regulators are
series and shunt.
The three types of switching are step-up, step-
down, and inverting.
 Summary

Switching regulators are more efficient than linear

making them ideal for low voltage high current
applications.
IC regulators are available with fixed positive or
negative output voltages or variable negative or
positive output voltages.
Both linear and switching type regulators are
available in IC form.
Current capacity of a voltage regulator can be
increased with an external pass transistor.