Selecting Power Inductors for Your SMPS Design

The demand for higher power efficiencies and the proliferation of distributed power architecture has forced many design engineers — some of whom are more comfortable working in the digital domain — to turn their attention to system power requirements. Since these power considerations are no longer the preserve of the hardware design engineer, this article gives a step-by-step explanation of the fun-damental requirements of power inductors in switch-mode power supplies (SMPS).