![]() ![]() The power supply circuit uses a 12V Zener diode as a voltage regulator. It can operate in any of the four quadrants of the voltage-current coordinate system.This circuit is capable of providing a DC voltage source of 12 volts with a current of max 3A. To summarize, a bipolar or four-quadrant power supply is a supply that can provide positive or negative output voltage, and can source or sink current. See Figure 4 for the output characteristic of the N6784A. It is a 20 W Source/Measure Unit (SMU) with multiple output ranges. It can source or sink current and the output voltage across its output terminals can be set positive or negative. Keysight’s N6784A is an example of a bipolar power supply. In quadrants 2 and 4, a bipolar supply is consuming power: current flows into the more positive voltage terminal. In quadrants 1 and 3, a bipolar supply is sourcing power: current flows out of the more positive voltage terminal. Another name for these is bipolar since they are able to produce either positive or negative voltage on their output terminals. These supplies can typically operate in all four quadrants and are therefore known as four-quadrant power supplies. Some power supplies can provide positive or negative voltages across their output terminals without having to switch the external wiring to the terminals. In quadrant 2, the power supply would be consuming power (sinking current) with current flowing into the more positive voltage terminal. In quadrant 1, the power supply would be sourcing power with current flowing out of the more positive voltage terminal. These power supplies can operate in quadrants 1 and 2 and can therefore be called two-quadrant supplies. A graph of the boundary surrounding these valid operating points on the coordinate system is known as the power supply’s output characteristic.Īs mentioned earlier, some power supplies are uni-polar (produce only a single polarity output voltage), but can source and sink current. This coordinate system is used to define the valid operating points for a given power supply. For power supplies, voltage is normally shown on the vertical axis and current on the horizontal axis. Roman numerals are typically used to refer to the quadrants. By convention, the four quadrants of the coordinate system are defined as shown. The Cartesian coordinate system simply shows two parameters on perpendicular axes. To fully define power supply output voltage and current conventions, a Cartesian coordinate system is used. Most power supplies do not do this although many Keysight power supplies can sink some current to quickly pull down their output voltage when needed – this is known as a down-programmer capability – see this post for more info: ![]() If current flows into the positive voltage terminal, the power supply is sinking current and is acting like an electronic load – it is absorbing and dissipating power instead of sourcing power. By convention, the “polarity” nomenclature typically refers to the polarity of the voltage (not the direction of current flow). This is known as a uni-polar power supply because it provides voltage with only one polarity. Most power supplies source energy in this way by providing a positive output voltage and positive output current. To source power, current must flow out of the positive voltage terminal. A standard power supply typically is a source of power. ![]() Figure 1 shows a simple diagram of a power supply (a two-terminal device) with the standard polarity for voltage and current. To answer this question, we need to start with a basic definition of polarity conventions. What is a bipolar (four-quadrant) power supply? Operational "How to" Guides SummaryExplanation of what a four quadrant DC power supply is, and how it differs from simpler designs. ![]()
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