Hardware Protection – OverVoltage and OverCurrent

Hardware Protection

Power processing is one of the most important aspects on electronic design. The power is unique for a typical system because it gives the system life. Before starting to make the project for a power supply we need to analyze some aspects: Which kind of radio/electromagnetic interference is the device going to face ? What about maintenance requirements? And finally which environment conditions (temperature, humidity, vibrations) will the device be exposed to?

1. Power Supply Parameters

Three major power supply (Figure 1) architectures are defined for any engineer:
1.Linear Regulators.
2.Pulse width modulated switching (PWM).
3.High resonant technology switching.

Some important parameters can described in the followig texts:

Inputs:
Vin(low), Vin(high) – minimum and maximum allowed input voltages, hence input voltage range.
Iin(max) – maximum average input current.

Outputs:
Vout(min), Vout(max) – minimum and maximum allowed output voltages, hence output voltage range.
Vout(abs) – maximum allowed output voltage this limit is set by load specs. Iout(rated), Iout(min) – maximum and minimum output current provided to the load. Isc – short circuit output current.

2. Protection

When some of these inputs/outputs parameters are not correlated with their optimal values or just when some external event disturbs the system, like dropout, surge, transients, ripple voltages, the entire system is vulnerable and need to be protected. Everyone knows that is better preventing than curing. The solution for this is permanent monitoring and auto controlling. In most of the cases an electronic circuit is build for controlling a specific load (it’s the output terminal). The load can be a sensor, a resistive circuit or even a microcontroller (Figure 2).

Current Protection:
Depending on power line, load and control circuit layout, two basic architectures are available: low-side switch and high-side switch (figure 3 e 4).

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About The Author

Ibrar Ayyub

I am an experienced technical writer holding a Master's degree in computer science from BZU Multan, Pakistan University. With a background spanning various industries, particularly in home automation and engineering, I have honed my skills in crafting clear and concise content. Proficient in leveraging infographics and diagrams, I strive to simplify complex concepts for readers. My strength lies in thorough research and presenting information in a structured and logical format.

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