Supplying power at low voltage (3.3 V)

The evolution of microelectronics technology requires lower supply voltages, looking for lower power consumption and higher integration densities. On the other hand, following the same requirements, power supplies should be lighter, more compact and reliable, pushing the development of new solutions with improved performance in this new scenario of continuous evolving electronic technology. In this paper, different solutions for low power and low voltage power converters, both AC/DC and DC/DC, are discussed. Topics like power density, efficiency, thermal management, battery life, magnetics integration, synchronous rectification, power factor correction, etc., are considered. They strongly affect the selection of the optimum topology for a particular application. This paper illustrates a partial revision of the state of the art in low voltage (3.3 V) switched-mode power supplies, showing some future trends in this particular sector of power electronics.