Datasheet
www.tektronix.com/power 11
Power Supply Measurement and Analysis with Bench Oscilloscopes
Figure 17. Ripple Measurements.
Ripple
Ripple is the AC voltage that is superimposed onto the DC
output of a power supply. It is expressed as a percentage of
the normal output voltage or as peak-to-peak volts. Linear
power supplies usually see a ripple that is close to twice the
line frequency (~120 Hz), whereas switching power supplies
may see a switching ripple in the hundreds of kHz.
Conclusion
The power supply is integral to virtually every type of line-
powered and battery-operated electronic product, and the
switch-mode power supply (SMPS) has become the dominant
architecture in many applications. A single switch-mode power
supply’s performance — or its failure — can affect the fate of a
large, costly system.
To ensure the reliability, stability, performance, and compliance
of an emerging SMPS design, the design engineer must
perform many complex power measurements. The Tektronix
MDO/MSO/DPO4000 or MDO/MSO/DPO3000 Series
oscilloscopes with a power analysis application module
dramatically simplifies the analysis of power supplies.
Automated power measurements such as harmonics,
power quality, switching loss, safe operating area, slew rate,
modulation and ripple ensure fast analysis while simplified
setup and deskew of probes provides maximum accuracy.