Load switch energy storage principle

What are integrated load switches?

Integrated load switches are electronic switches that can be used to turn on and turn off power supply rails in systems, similar to a relay or a discrete FET. Load switches offer many other benefits to the system some including protection features that are often difficult to implement with discrete components.

What is the function of a load switch?

A load switch automatically cuts off a device from its power supply to protect it from damage during abnormal power situations, such as a power surge, an electrical transient, or insertion/removal of the battery.

What is on-resistance of a load switch?

The on-resistance of the load switch is a characteristic of the pass FET and will be used in calculating the power dissipated by the load switch. The pass FET can be either an N-channel or P-channel FET, which will determine the architecture of the load switch.

Does a load switch save power?

Thus, the power dissipated by this rail now becomes: Thus, using a load switch will result in power savings by a factor of 1000. As the number of rails increase, placing additional load switches to reduce the power consumption of standby rails that have excessive leakage current can result in significant power savings.

What does a load switch insert into?

The load switch is an insertion into the power path between the source and load. Therefore, it is important to understand what this insertion can impact the device’s performance. The load switch is a device used to turn the power rail on and off when it is needed.

How does a load switch protect a device?

The load switch automatically cuts off the device from the power supply to protect it from damage during abnormal power situations, such as a power surge, an electrical transient or an insertion or removal of the battery.