That can be done with a single chip. What’s actually complicated here is the switch-mode power supply itself.
It’s how you get a 90% efficiency vs a 10% efficiency from linear power supplies (transformer, full bridge rectifier, and a big ass-capacitor, then if you need a stable voltage, a voltage regulator, which makes things even less efficient). The benefit of linear supplies is that it’s very easy to produce very clean power for analog electronics, but digital electronics have a lot more wiggle room for noise in the power. Well designed SMPS have both low noise levels and also hogh efficiency. Those are more expensive :P.
There’s a field of engineering specific to power electronics. It can get super complicated. I don’t understand a lot of it myself.
That can be done with a single chip. What’s actually complicated here is the switch-mode power supply itself.
It’s how you get a 90% efficiency vs a 10% efficiency from linear power supplies (transformer, full bridge rectifier, and a big ass-capacitor, then if you need a stable voltage, a voltage regulator, which makes things even less efficient). The benefit of linear supplies is that it’s very easy to produce very clean power for analog electronics, but digital electronics have a lot more wiggle room for noise in the power. Well designed SMPS have both low noise levels and also hogh efficiency. Those are more expensive :P.
There’s a field of engineering specific to power electronics. It can get super complicated. I don’t understand a lot of it myself.