The characteristics of the parallel resonant converter are quite different from those of the series resonant converter, and from those of conventional PWM converters. The parallel topology can both step up and step down the dc voltage. Although the output characteristics are again elliptical, near resonance they exhibit a current-source characteristic. The discontinuous conduction mode occurs under heavy loading (or short-circuit conditions, in the limit). The transistor current stresses and conduction loss depend on the output voltage, and are nearly independent of load current.