Buck & Boost Power Supply Design Workshop Online Learning

In partnership with Texas Instruments and Würth Elektronik:

Overview

If you feel that there are thousands of pages of information about switch-mode power supply design and you do not know where to start, then this online workshop is for you.

Using a systematic and step-by-step approach, we start from the basics and guide you through the complete design of a power supply down to the last component.

We cover all design procedures, decision-making processes, compromises, calculations, and how to select suitable components, including the necessary safety margins for the Buck and Boost topologies down to the last component. Although this workshop concentrates on Buck and Boost design, the techniques taught here apply to all topologies. If you have already completed our Flyback Power Supply Design​  then there will of course be some commonalty and therefore you will receive a discount at checkout.

Using numerous videos, presentations, end-of-chapter quizzes, and design examples, each participant will learn how to design, select, and specify each component until the power supply design is complete. Where possible, we use freely available automated design tools to simplify laborious calculations, enabling participants to design, experiment, and learn effectively. In addition, all participants will receive a free license* for our advanced Power Supply Design Software WDS to ease calculations.

By the end of the workshop, you will have designed a complete and fully functioning power supply, with all component part numbers specified.

This workshop will take approximately 40 full-time hours to complete and counts toward your Continuing Professional Development (CPD). Upon completion, you will receive a certificate for your personal development file, recognizing your achievement in power supply design.

Workshop Outline

• ​​​Buck Converter Basics 
  • Overview of the Buck converter operation and all of its components that we will design
• Inductor Selection
  • Operation of the inductor in our power supply 
  • Conduction modes
  • All inductor parameters needed for section (inductance, rated current, saturation current magnetic material)
  • Using free online tools to select narrow down and select your inductor quickly
  • Real-life design example: inductor selection down to part number
• Switching strategies 
  • Asynchronous switching, synchronous switching, synchronous with diode emulation
  • Which switching strategy is most suitable for your application
• MOSFET selection
  • MOSFET selection without switching loss calculations
  • MOSFET Selection with switching loss calculation
  • How read the datasheet and extract the parameters that you need parameter
  • Gate resistor calculations and selection
  • Using free online tools to narrow down and select your MOSFET quickly
  • Real-life design example: MOSFET selection down to part number, without switching loss calculation for a low/medium power converters
  • Real-life design example 2: MOSFET selection down to part number, switching loss calculation for medium/high power converters
• Diode selection
  • Power diode types, parameters and selection 
  • How read the datasheet and extract the parameters that you need 
  • Using free online tools to narrow down and select your power diode quickly
  • Real-life design example: Power diode selection down to component part number 
• Input and output capacitor selection
  • Why do we need input capacitance?
  • Input ripple and noise reduction capacitance selection 
  • Input bulk capacitor selection
  • Output capacitor calculations and selection
  • Using free online tools to narrow down and select your capacitors quickly
  • Real-life design example 1: Ceramic input capacitor selection down to component part number 
  • Real-life design example 2: Electrolytic input capacitor selection down to component part number
• PWM controller IC selection
  • Selecting the correct IC for your application
  • Understanding the technical terms 
  • How read the datasheet and extract the parameters that you need
  • Real-life design example 1: PWM controller selection 
• Beginner friendly, Step-by-Step Control loop design
  • All that you need to know for fast control loop parameter calculation 
  • Control mode selection for your power (voltage mode, voltage mode with input voltage feedforward, current mode, constant-on-time)
  • What are Bode plots and how to read and use them for stability
  • Using various software tools to design control loops and calculate components quickly
  • Real-life control loop design example down to component part number
• RC snubber design for Buck
  • RC snubber circuit calculations and component selection
  • Using free online tools to design your RC snubber quickly
  • Real-life design example: RC snubber design down to component part number 
• Other ancillary components
  • Current sense circuit design and over-current protection
  • Soft start components
  • Clock components
  • Sizing bypass capacitance
  • Heat sinking

Pricing

• Power Supply Hardware Design Workshop​: $750 USD (or €680 EUR) per user.
• The online training portal and your WDS license will be accessible for 18-months from the date of registration. This means you will have 18-months to complete the workshop. After this time you can extend your registration on a monthly basis for a small fee.

Completion and Certification

Following the completion of the workshop, users will receive a certificate. You must complete the entire online workshop to receive your certificate. This workshop will constitute 40 hours of CPD (Continuing Professional Development)

Prerequisites

The audience must have a degree in electrical/electronic engineering, computer science or equivalent.
These workshops are highly technical, intended for professional engineers and are not suitable for the general public without relevant qualifications.

Other Workshops

Even though this is an online course, we at Biricha understand the value of hands-on experiments for gaining experience and confidence in power supply design. Therefore, a series of additional “Hands-on Power Supply Design Example Workshops” are also available to extend your knowledge and experience. These extra workshops use bespoke Design Example Kits (DEK) for Buck, Boost and Flyback topologies which are available for you to purchase and experiment with.

These boards are designed specifically with teaching and learning in mind. The boards allow you to calculate your component values, solder them on the board, observe the waveforms with your oscilloscope, experiment, change values and learn. Please see our “Hands-on Power Supply Design Example Workshops” page for more information.

You may be interested in the following complimentary workshops: 

• Flyback Converter Design Workshop
• Power Supply Design Example Workshop
  Constant-on-Time Buck Hands-On Design Example Workshop
  Asynchronous Buck Hands-On Design Example Workshop
  Synchronous Buck Hands-On Design Example Workshop
  Flyback Hands-On Design Example Workshop

* 12 month license. You must have unrestricted access to the internet. This software is not necessary for understanding the material in the class and is available upon request at a later date.

Registration

The workshop will be available soon. Please register to be notified when it is online using the form below: