Very low frequency supercapacitor techniques to improve the end-to-end efficiency of DC-DC converters based on commercial off the shelf LDOs

Laplace transform-based theoretical foundations and experimental validation: low-frequency supercapacitor circulation for efficiency improvements in linear regulators

“…Component values were selected to implement the 12V-5V regulator indicated in [8,10] Table 2. This MATLAB evaluations were based on the equation sets [27] indicates the actual supercapacitor model is more complex.…”

“…Single-cell devices are DC rated from about 2.3V to 5.5V, while supercapacitor modules are available with DC voltage ratings beyond 100V. With the availability of very thin profile supercapacitors from manufacturers such as Cap-XX (Australia) [7] with the capacitance values up to several farads and very low equivalent series resistance (ESR) values, a new approach to enhancing the end-to-end efficiency of linear regulators based on low dropout regulator ICs has been developed [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. The technique is easily applicable to standard cases such as 12V-5V, 5V-3.3V and 5V-1.5V which are common in processor-based electronic systems [15].…”

“…The technique can be easily adapted to other practical applications such as V p <2V in(min) and V p >3V in(min) configurations, as far as the usability of a linear regulator at the output end is broadly applicable [8,10]. If the input voltage is lower than the output, classical switched-capacitor configurations will be required.…”

“…A 12V-5V regulator requires only a single supercapacitor, while other combinations such as 5V-3.3V and 5V-1.5V converters require supercapacitor arrays [10]. More details are provided in [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] with various configurations applicable to different input-output voltage combinations.…”

Design of an efficiency improved dual-output DC-DC converter utilizing a supercapacitor circulation technique

“…In this technique, a single supercapacitor (SC) or arrays of SCs are utilized depending upon the voltage requirements while keeping the switching frequency from few Hz to 100s of Hz [4]- [6]. References [4]- [9] show that the 5-3.3V, 5-1.5V and 12-5V SCALDO topologies can achieve ETEE of 92%, 83% and 83% respectively. Nevertheless, the SCALDO topologies implemented formerly, can only produce single output voltage level [4]- [12].…”