Reference Supply Voltage

Voltage references are electronic components, devices or circuits that are designed to deliver a constant DC (direct current) output voltage - in other words, a fixed voltage - irrespective of inconsistencies in other external conditions. These might include such changeable factors as total load on the device, fluctuations in the power supply, temperature, humidity, elapsed time, and a host of other variables.

The key job of a voltage reference is to provide a consistent standard against which other components in the system can measure their own input voltage. This allows the system to provide a readily comparable electronic translation for important analogue metrics such as speed, temperature, and pressure.

Depending on your specific application needs, you may be able to take advantage of certain specialised voltage reference designs, each with its own performance benefits and limitations. This could include programmable voltage references, for example, as well as various other types like high or low voltage references. With this specific example, it should be noted that most voltage references can only deliver relatively low currents to the load, and few can cope with particularly high current.