Embedded applications have emerged appreciably during the past few years

due to the considerable increase of nomad and traveller ways of life. These

itinerant lifestyles induce the apparition and development of more and more

portable and autonomous systems. As a consequence, energy sources, their

corresponding storage devices and power management control systems should

be improved substantially to obtain an optimal and long-lasting working

operation. Consequently, new issues in the quest for longer power autonomy

have appeared recently. Furthermore, embedded products own strict power

supplies design requirements which are becoming more and more critical

with the increasing complexity of the functionalities proposed by these new

portable devices