What do the terms low side driver and high side driver mean?

[TheAnalogKid83]

What do the terms "low side driver" and "high side driver" mean?

Can anyone give me some information on what low side driver and high side driver mean?

 

[dlgoff]

Low-side and high-side is sometimes used when speeking of transformer voltages.

 

[berkeman]

Or in the context of transistors driving loads, a high side driver would normally be a PNP transistor, with the emitter connected to the + power rail, collector connected to the load (which then connects to the - power rail), and the base is pulled down to turn on the high-side PNP switch.

A low-side driver is just that upside-down. The load connects to the + power rail, and the NPN collector connects to the load. The emitter is grounded, and the base is driven up (supplied with a positive current) to turn on the NPN transistor.