Transformerless 5-volt Power Supply

An increasing number of appliances draw a very small current from the power supply. If you need to design a mains-powered device, you could generally choose between a linear and a switch-mode power supply. However, what if the appliance's total power consumption is very small? Transformer-based power supplies are bulky, while the switchers are generally made to provide greater current output, with a significant increase in complexity, problems involving PCB layout and, inherently, reduced reliability.