Section 2 gives motivation and guidelines to be followed in the synthesis of new switching converters, equally simple but with significantly improved performance, through converter optimum topology.A revised look at these three tlbasic" converters, and the correlation among their topologies and functions, leads in Section 3 to study of the generic properties of the cascade connection of buck and boost converters. Especially, the recognition of the fact that the conventional buck-boost converter may be considered as a -6pecial ca6e derived from one kind of cascade connection (buck converter followed by a boost converter) leads quite naturally in Section 3 to the discovery of the new optimum In Section 4 the steady state (dc) and dynamic (ac) models of the new switching converter are obtained in the canonical circuit form, and are experimentally verified.The importance of the optimwn .iYLteJteonnectLon of elements is emphasized in Section 5, where the new converter and conventional buck-boost with an input filter, consisting of the same components, are extensively compared both theoretically and experimentally. The superior performance, significantly higher efficiciency, and much lower switching ripple are demonstrated for the new converter.