Power processing unit

<p>A power processing unit (PPU) is a circuit device that convert an electricity input from a <a href="/facts/Utility_power/rjE90Hg0">utility line</a> into the appropriate <a href="/facts/Voltage/EN2po6N2">voltage</a> and <a href="/facts/Electric_current/Dc1xdnUX">current</a> to be used for the device in question.  They serve the same purpose as <a href="/facts/Linear_amplifier/7EU8jdBW">linear amplifiers</a>, but they are much more efficient, since the use of linear amplifiers results in much power loss due to the use of a <a href="/facts/Resistor/JrsGReM6">resistor</a> to change the voltage and current.  Instead of using a resistor, PPUs use <a href="/facts/Switch/vqbNDgYm">switches</a> to turn a signal on and off quite rapidly in order to change the average current and voltage.  In this way, they could be conflated with <a href="/facts/DC-AC_converter/L8cJc3Hu">DC-AC converters</a>, but the frequency at which they switch the signal on and off is a few orders of magnitude higher than that of AC signals. They are used to convert the current and voltage of both <a href="/facts/Direct_current/r9MNUx84">direct current</a> (DC) and <a href="/facts/Alternating_current/qxICS3xa">alternating current</a> (AC) signals.
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Power processing unit open-in-new

Power processing unit