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Electrical & Electronics Engineering vocabulary · Circuits and Components

Voltage regulator

Meaning in electrical & electronics engineering, with examples

nounCore term

In electrical & electronics engineering, voltage regulator means: A circuit or IC that keeps its output voltage constant even when the input voltage or the load changes. It can be linear, such as an LDO, or switching, such as a buck converter.

In Turkish: voltaj regülatörü, gerilim regülatörü, regülatör

How it is used

Found on almost every board. Engineers choose a voltage regulator by input range, output voltage, current, efficiency and dropout voltage. Linear regulators are simple and quiet but turn the extra power into heat; switching regulators are more efficient but noisier.

Example sentences

  1. The 3.3 V voltage regulator is getting very hot because it drops almost 9 V at 300 mA.

  2. Replace the linear voltage regulator with a buck converter to improve efficiency.

Common collocations

  • linear voltage regulator
  • LDO regulator
  • switching regulator
  • dropout voltage
  • regulator output
  • power supplyA device or circuit that provides the voltage and current a system needs, usually by converting mains AC into a regulated DC output. A bench power supply is the adjustable unit on a lab desk.
  • heat sinkA metal part, usually finned aluminium, attached to a hot component such as a transistor or a regulator to carry heat away into the surrounding air.
  • integrated circuitA complete electronic circuit made on a single small piece of silicon and sealed in a package with pins. Microcontrollers, op-amps and voltage regulators are all integrated circuits.
  • DCShort for direct current: current that flows in one direction only, usually at a steady value. Batteries, solar panels and most electronic circuits work with DC.

More terms: Circuits and Components

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