Infrastructure
Galvanic Isolation
Category
Infrastructure
Abstraction level
Primitive
Operation level
Deployment
Use cases
Power supplies and converters (safety)Solid-state transformersMeasurement and communication interfaces
How it works
Energy or signal is transferred by indirect coupling — magnetic (transformer), optical (optocoupler) or capacitive — without a metallic link, so the circuits remain separated with respect to direct current.
Problem solved
How to transfer energy or signal between circuits while eliminating a direct current path for safety and interference reduction?
Strengths & limitations
Strengths
✓Safety (protection from shock and damage)
✓Elimination of ground loops and interference
✓Separation of zones at different potentials
Limitations
✗Additional components and cost
✗Bandwidth limits of the coupling
✗Losses in the isolating element