Clamping

Clamping is a circuit protection technique that limits voltage or current to safe levels by restricting signals to stay within predetermined upper and/or lower bounds. It typically uses diodes, Zener diodes, or specialized clamping circuits to prevent voltage spikes or excursions that could damage sensitive components. Common applications include input protection for microcontrollers, overvoltage protection in power supplies, and signal conditioning in analog circuits. Unlike filtering which removes unwanted frequencies, clamping directly clips or constrains signal amplitudes.