Bipolar shunt regulator

A linear shunt regulator, comprising:

• an input terminal for receiving an unregulated high voltage input power;
• an output terminal for providing an output power having a regulated output power characteristic;
• a ground terminal;
• a plurality of transistors, one or more of which may be selectively engaged to shunt current between said input terminal and said ground terminal;
• and
• a control circuit configured to apply a drive signal to at least one of said plurality of transistors when the magnitude of said output power characteristic is not equal to a desired value.

A method of regulating a high voltage input said method comprising:

• receiving an input power having at an input terminal;
• providing an output power having a regulated output power characteristic at an output terminal;
• determining the difference between said a current value of said output power characteristic and a desired value of said output power characteristic;
• generating a drive signal based on said difference;
• applying said drive signal to a solid-state shunt to cause a variable amount of current to be linearly shunted between said output terminal and ground.

A method of regulating a high voltage power source, said method comprising:

• receiving an unregulated input voltage at an input terminal, said input voltage capable of having one of a positive polarity and a negative polarity;
• providing a regulated output voltage at an output terminal;
• determining the difference between the magnitude of said output voltage and a desired magnitude of said output voltage;
• generating a drive signal based on said difference;
• applying said drive signal to a first solid-state shunt to cause a variable amount of current to be shunted from said output terminal to ground if said input voltage has a positive polarity;
• applying said drive signal to a second solid-state shunt to cause a variable amount of current to be shunted to said output terminal from ground if said input voltage has a negative polarity.