Linear Power Supply: AC-DC Conversion

In an AC-DC power conversion process, an LED driver begins with rectifying commercial AC mains voltage into an unregulated DC voltage. A DC-DC converter receives a rectified DC voltage and regulates it to provide a desired output. In this process, load regulation provided by the DC-DC converter is of the utmost importance because LEDs must be continuously forward biased at a predetermined voltage to deliver flicker-free illumination. Depending on the mode of operation, the process can be implemented in a single stage or in multi- stages. There're two techniques used in DC-to-DC power conversion to produce a regulated output voltage from an unregulated input: switching regulation and linear regulation.