Contents
How is reference voltage obtained?
A voltage reference is an electronic component or circuit that produces a constant DC (direct-current) output voltage regardless of variations in external conditions such as temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, current demand, or the passage of time.
What are the specifications of the power supply that you have designed?
Insulation voltage tolerance. Operating temperature range. Efficiency. No-load input power.
What’s the difference between voltage regulator and voltage reference?
Voltage regulator vs. voltage reference. Now, voltage regulators are typically used to power a circuit, which means they will have a current output of a few hundred mA or more, generally speaking. In order to keep cost, size, etc down, the output tolerance on voltage regulators are (again, generally) a few 10s or 100s of mV.
Which is an example of a voltage reference?
Voltage references have much more precise and stable output, but cannot source or sink any significant amount of current. They’re typically used in precision analog circuitry, e.g. with ADCs. An example of a voltage reference is the TI REF02, which will output 5V ± 10 mV (0.2%), but can only source about 10 mA.
Can a MCU be used as a reference voltage?
Some MCUs have an external pin that allows you to provide a voltage reference of your choosing, but others will simply use the MCU’s supply voltage. This can cause inaccuracy, for example, if the MCU accepts 3.3 V analog inputs to the internal ADC while the V REF for that internal ADC is actually the supply voltage to the MCU or 5V.
Do you need temperature compensation for voltage regulator?
A precision voltage regulator with temperature compensation will typically require more support components than a basic regulator such as the ones in the question. For instance, from the above datasheet: This part, and other similar parts, can also incorporate current limiting, if that is the original purpose of the current source in the question.