Where are power supplies headed?

The invention of the transistor over fifty years ago, and the many advances in power semiconductor devices that followed have rapidly pushed switching power supplies to a ubiquitous presence in today's electronic world. Improvements in circuits, packaging and other components have also kept pace, helping make power supplies much smaller, cheaper and reliable. These advances are examined in three broad areas, powering architectures, AC/DC rectifiers and DC/DC converters, to set the stage for an examination of what the future might bring. By studying some of the fundamental aspects of power-supply technology, and understanding where the applications being powered are headed, the authors speculate on what advances are needed and delve into how component technologies must develop in the future. Then, based on the demanding needs of powering lower-voltage, higher-current and faster electronics in the future, the authors offer a power-supply technology roadmap. Their vision is for a future where the necessary advances come by means of much stronger partnerships between power-supply manufacturers, their customers and component suppliers.