Before diving into the PDF’s contents, one must understand the author’s pedigree. Christophe Basso is a principal engineer at onsemi (formerly ON Semiconductor) and a renowned authority on SMPS modeling. He is also the developer of CModel and the automated loop control tool integrated into numerous design software suites.
Unlike theoretical tomes, Basso’s book is written by a practicing engineer for practicing engineers. It addresses the real pain points:
In the world of power electronics, a stable power supply is the silent heartbeat of every electronic device. But ensuring that a power supply remains stable under all conditions—load transients, input voltage surges, and temperature variations—is one of the most challenging aspects of circuit design. Before diving into the PDF’s contents, one must
Enter Christophe Basso, a distinguished engineer at ON Semiconductor and a towering figure in power electronics. His seminal work, Designing Control Loops for Linear and Switching Power Supplies, is widely regarded as the industry bible for feedback loop design. If you want to move past the "cut-and-try" method with an oscilloscope, this book is your roadmap.
To illustrate the book's practical value, consider a common query: “My Flyback supply whines under load.” Without Basso’s analytical framework
According to Basso’s methodology (Chapter 8 in the PDF):
Without Basso’s analytical framework, engineers typically increase output capacitance (costly) or adjust the compensation pot randomly (ineffective). With the book, the solution is systematic. you would need a companion text.
No book is perfect. The primary criticism of Basso’s work is its density. It is over 800 pages of intense material. Some readers find the mathematical derivation of the PWM switch model overwhelming on the first pass. However, Basso wisely marks sections as "optional reading" for theory vs. "mandatory" for practice.
Additionally, while the book focuses on analog control loops (the industry standard), it does not deeply cover digital control loops (using microcontrollers/DSPs). For that, you would need a companion text.