This page is a curriculum outline. Detailed lessons are still being developed.
Prerequisites: Devices and switching models
Purpose
This stage studies the core switching converter topologies and their steady-state behavior.
It is the heart of the beginner-to-intermediate path.
Core Topics
- buck, boost, buck-boost, inverting buck-boost, SEPIC, Cuk, flyback, forward, half-bridge, full-bridge, and resonant converter awareness
- PWM, duty cycle, switching frequency, ripple, and volt-second balance
- continuous conduction mode and discontinuous conduction mode
- steady-state conversion ratios
- equivalent circuits, losses, efficiency, and thermal estimates
- switch realization and current paths
- waveform interpretation
Must-Know Ideas
- Converters work by repeatedly storing and releasing energy.
- Inductor volt-second balance and capacitor charge balance are central analysis tools.
- Duty cycle controls the average output, but real devices add loss and delay.
- CCM and DCM can make the same circuit behave very differently.
- The same topology can look simple on paper and become difficult in hardware.
Practice Projects
- Derive and simulate an ideal buck converter.
- Compare buck converter waveforms in CCM and DCM.
- Estimate efficiency using conduction and switching losses.
- Create annotated current-path diagrams for buck and boost converters.
- Ask an AI tutor to generate misconception checks for each topology.
Exit Criteria
Before moving on, the learner should be able to:
- explain buck, boost, and buck-boost operation from switch states
- compute ideal conversion ratios
- estimate inductor current ripple and capacitor voltage ripple
- identify CCM and DCM from waveforms
- simulate a simple converter and explain the result
Continue: Buck converter: from principles to design · Predict and check an ideal buck converter · Dynamics, transfer functions and control