There are two types of IC voltage regulators which are given below,
- Linear regulators
- Switching regulators.
Linear regulators:
In linear regulators, a power transistor is connected in series between unregulated power supply input and the load. The output voltage is monitored and controlled by the control circuitry to keep the output voltage constant when variation in the load and the line voltage takes place. Since the power transistor is operated in active region, these regulators are called as linear regulators.
Switching regulators:
In switching regulators, the power transistor is used as a high frequency ON/OFF switch so that the power transistor does not conduct continuously so as to improve the power efficiency.
