Boost-buck cascade converter for pulsating loads

A method of providing a power burst to a load device, the method comprising:

• providing a voltage on a reservoir capacitor by converting a voltage and current provided by a primary power source and maintaining an average constant current supplied to the reservoir capacitor, the capacitor voltage being greater than the power source voltage;
• and
• while maintaining average constant current to the reservoir capacitor,
• converting the capacitor voltage to a predetermined output voltage for the load device, and
• maintaining the predetermined output voltage substantially constant, while providing a current pulse to the load device.

A power converter comprising:

• a reservoir capacitor for storing energy obtained from a primary power source;
• a first converter stage configured to convert the primary power source voltage to a voltage on the reservoir capacitor while maintaining a substantially constant average current to the reservoir capacitor;
• and
• a second converter stage configured to convert the capacitor voltage to an output voltage for a load device while maintaining the output voltage substantially constant and providing a current pulse to the load device.