The purpose of the commutation cell is to "chop" DC power into square wave alternating current. This is done so that an inductor and a capacitor can be used in an LC circuit to change the voltage. This is in theory a lossless process, and in practice efficiencies above 80-90% are routinely achieved. The output is then usually run through a filter to produce clean DC power. By controlling the on and off times (the duty cycle) of the switch in the commutation cell, the output voltage can be regulated.