Advanced 

Power Conversion and Control 2017 ‐ 2018

Advanced Power Conversion and 
Control

DC‐DC CONVERTERS (1)

Introduction
• DC‐DC converters (or choppers) are used to convert a DC
voltage from one level to another.
• DC‐DC converter can also be used to obtain a regulated DC
output voltage from an unregulated DC input voltage.
• Usually, the input DC voltage is obtained by rectifying a line
voltage that is changing in magnitude.
• DC‐DC converters are commonly used in applications
requiring regulated DC power, such as:
 Computers
 telecommunication devices
 Battery chargers
• DC‐DC converters are also used to provide a regulated
variable DC voltage for DC motor drives.

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Introduction
• DC‐DC converters act like a DC transformer, they essentially
just change the input energy into a different impedance
level.
• The fundamental principle of a basic DC‐DC converter can
be described as a switch (IGBT, MOSFET, etc.) connected in
series with the DC voltage source ( ) and the load ( ).

Vs

Introduction
• DC‐DC converters named Switch Mode Power Supplies
(SMPS) or Switching Regulators employ IGBTs and MOSFETs
as switches.
• SMPS use the control of the switches (ON or OFF) with
energy storage components such as inductors and
capacitors to transfer power from the input to the output
to achieve the desired output voltage and current.
• DC‐DC converters can be implemented in different
topologies to perform the following functions:
 Step down an unregulated DC input voltage to produce
a lower regulated DC output voltage: This DC‐DC
converter is known as a buck or step‐down converter.

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Introduction
 Step up an unregulated DC input voltage to produce a
higher regulated DC output voltage. This DC‐DC
converter is known as a boost or step‐up converter.
 Step down then step up an unregulated DC input
voltage to produce a lower/higher regulated DC output
voltage. This is known as a buck‐boost converter. The
buck‐boost produces a negative output voltage relative
to the input voltage.
 Invert the DC input voltage. This is known as a Cúk
converter.
 The push‐pull converter is a transformer‐based DC‐DC
converter that is typically used to higher power
applications.

Introduction
• The regulation of the average output voltage of DC‐DC
converter is a function of the:
 ON‐time ( ) of the switch.
 Pulse width.
 Switching frequency ( ).
,

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Introduction
• Methods of Control: The output DC voltage can be varied
by the following methods:
 Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) or constant
frequency control.
 Frequency Modulation or variable frequency
control.
• PWM
 In PWM, the pulse width ( ) of the output waveform is
varied while keeping the chopping frequency constant.

Introduction
 PWM is the most widely used method for controlling the
output voltage.

 The output voltage control depends on the duty ratio

defined as:
ton v
D  control
T vrepetitive

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Introduction
 PWM consists in comparing the level of the control
voltage to the level of a repetitive signal
.
 The ON‐time of the switch is defined as the fraction of
the switching period where:

 The switching frequency remains constant while the

control voltage level is adjusted to change the ON‐time
and therefore .
 The switching frequency is usually above 20 kHz.

Introduction
• Variable Frequency Control
 In this method of control, the chopping frequency is
varied while keeping either or constant .
 Figure below shows the output waveform for a constant
and variable frequency (or period ).

 This method produces harmonics in the output and for

large the load current may become discontinuous.

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Introduction
• DC‐DC converters operate in one of the following two
modes depending on the characteristics of the output
current:
 Continuous Conduction Mode (CCM): Defined by
continuous output current ( ) over the entire
switching period.
 Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM): Defined by
discontinuous output current ( ) during any fraction
of the switching period.

Introduction
• Commonly used choppers topologies operate in:
 One‐quadrant
 Two‐quadrant
 Four‐quadrant
• Step‐down (buck) converter and step‐up (boost) converters
are one‐quadrant converters.
• The two‐quadrant is a current reversible converter with a
buck‐boost topology.

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Step‐Down Buck Converter
• A Buck Converter produces an average output voltage that
is lower than the DC input voltage.
• These choppers operate only in the 1st quadrant of the V‐I
plane. Output and input voltages and currents are always
positive. The average power flows always from the source
to the load.

• The buck Converter is commonly used:

 In regulated DC power supplies like those in computers
and instrumentation.
 To provide a variable DC voltage to the armature of a DC
motor for variable speed drive applications.

Step‐Down Buck Converter
• Circuit and operation principle
 A more practical circuit for the converter is:

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Step‐Down Buck Converter
 When switch S closes, current begins to flow from to
through the switch and through .
 The current through increases. The diode D is reversed
biased. It will stay OFF as long as S remains ON.

Vs

 The switch S is kept closed for the time until the

output voltage reaches a desired value. Then it is
turned OFF (by a PWM control circuit).

Step‐Down Buck Converter
 When switch S opens, the current through L starts
decaying to zero (however, it does not go to zero
instantaneously).
 The inductor voltage forward biases the diode and the
current through the inductor free‐wheels through the
diode and the load.
 The diode is to provide a path for the load current
when S is open.

Vs

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Step‐Down Buck Converter
• Note: The inductance value must be large enough for a
given PWM frequency to ensure that the inductor current
does not drop to zero before the start of the next PWM
cycle.
 If the current drops to zero, this mode of operation is
called discontinuous.
 If the current through the inductor is always greater
than zero, then the mode of operation is called
continuous.

Step‐Down Buck Converter
• The inductor and capacitor act as a low pass filter and will
block the switching harmonics (frequency dependant
components) and will only pass the DC component to the
load. The actual output voltage waveform is given by:

v o t   V  v ripple t 
Actual waveform
vo(t)

DC component
0
t
• In a well‐designed converter, the output voltage ripple is
small.

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Advanced Power Conversion and Control 2017 ‐ 2018

Step‐Down Buck Converter
• Analysis
 Switch Closed (from time 0 to ton)
The inductor voltage is:
VL  VS  VO
Vs‐Vo
di di V  VO
VL  L L  L  S
dt dt L
Therefore, increases linearly.

diL iL VS  VO
 
dt DT L

V S  VO
i L closed  DT
L

Step‐Down Buck Converter
 Switch Opened (from time to )
The inductor voltage is:
diL di  VO
VL  L  VO  L 
dt dt L
Therefore, decreases linearly.

diL iL  VO
 
dt 1  D T L

iL opened   VO (1  D)T

L

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Step‐Down Buck Converter
The change in over one period is zero:

iL closed  iL opened  0

 VS  VO   V 
  DT   O  (1  D)T  0
 L   L 

VS D  VO D  VO  VO D  0

VO
VS D  VO  D
VS

Step‐Down Buck Converter
 The average inductor current is:
VO
IL  IR 
R
 The maximum current is:
i L VO 1  VO   1 1 D 
I max  I L     (1  D)T   VO   
2 R 2 L   R 2 Lf 
 The minimum current is:
iL  1 1 D 
I min  I L   VO   
2  R 2 Lf 
 Inductor current ripple:

iL  I max  I min

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Step‐Down Buck Converter
• Continuous Conduction Mode
 It is defined by the condition: 0
 In this mode, the inductor current is always greater than 0
and there is always a continuous flow of current through
the inductor.
 The advantage of the continuous mode is that the
relationship between the input and output voltage is
linear.
 1 1 D 
I min  VO     0
 R 2 Lf 
1 D
L  Lmin  R
2f

Step‐Down Buck Converter
• Output voltage ripple
 So far, the capacitor has been assumed to be very large
to keep the output voltage constant. In practice, this is
not possible with a finite capacitance.
 The capacitor current is:

 The capacitor charge is:

Q CV ⟹ Δ Δ
Δ  
⟹ Δ
Δ /2
 The triangle area gives: /2

1 Δ Δ
Δ
2 2 2 8

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Step‐Down Buck Converter
 The voltage ripple:
T  i L (1  D )
 VO  
8C 8 LCf 2
 Therefore the voltage ripple can be reduced by:
 increasing the switching frequency
 increasing
 increasing

Step‐Down Buck Converter
• Basic Design Methodology

Select L

Input 
Voltage 
Specified

Type of Switch, f
Choose C to 
and D
minimise ripple

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Step‐Down Buck Converter
• Design steps
1) Calculate to obtain the required output voltage.

2) Select the frequency ( > 20 kHz). Higher results in

smaller and .

3) Type of switch (BJT, IGBT, MOSFET, etc.).

4) Calculate . Then Choose 10 .

5) Calculate for ripple factor requirements.

Step‐Down Buck Converter
• Example: Design a buck converter to produce an output
voltage of 18 V across a 10‐ load resistor. The output
voltage ripple must not exceed 0.5 percent. The DC supply is
48 V. Design for continuous inductor current. Specify the
duty ratio, the switching frequency, the values of the
inductor and capacitor, the peak voltage rating of each
device, and the rms current in the inductor and capacitor.
Assume ideal components.

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Step‐Down Buck Converter
• The duty ratio is:
18
0.375
48
• The switching frequency and inductor size must be selected
for continuous‐current operation.
• Let the switching frequency arbitrarily be 40 kHz, which is
well above the audio range and is low enough to keep
switching losses small.
• The minimum inductance size is:
1 1 0.375 10
78
2 2 40 10

Step‐Down Buck Converter
• Let the inductor be 25% larger than
1.25 1.25 78 97.5

• The average inductor current and the change in current

are:
18
1.8
10
48 18 1
Δ 0.375
97.5 10 40 10
2.88
• The maximum and minimum inductor currents are
Δ
1.8 1.44 3.24
2

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Step‐Down Buck Converter
Δ
1.8 1.44 0.36
2

• The capacitor is selected using

1 1 0.375
Δ 8 97.5 10 0.005 40 10
8
100

Step‐Up Boost Converter
• A boost converter regulates the average output voltage at a
level higher than the input voltage.
• The boost converter is commonly used in:
 Regulated DC power supplies
 Regenerative braking of DC motors

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Step‐Up Boost Converter
• Circuit and operation principle
 The boost converter uses the same components as the
buck converter but with a different arrangement.

Vs

 The DC input voltage is in series with a large inductor

acting as a current source.
 The switch is in parallel with the current source.

Step‐Up Boost Converter

Buck Vs

Boost Vs

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Step‐Up Boost Converter
• When S is closed, the energy stored in the inductor
builds up.

Vs

Step‐Up Boost Converter
• When S is opened, current continues to flow through the
inductor to the load.
• Since the source and the discharging inductor are both
providing energy to the load, this boosts the voltage across
the load.

Vs

• The capacitor voltage is larger than the input voltage.

• The capacitor is large to keep a constant output voltage and
acts to reduce the ripple in the output voltage.

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Step‐Up Boost Converter

• Note:
1) If the switch sticks in the ON position, there is a short‐
circuit through the source. This will blow the switch.
2) If the load is disconnected during operation. The output
current is zero. continues to charge the capacitor to
high value (250 V). This will blow the diode and the
switch.

Vs

Step‐Up Boost Converter
• Analysis
 Switch closed (from time 0 to on)
The inductor voltage is:
VL  VS
Therefore increases linearly.
diL di V
VL  L  L  S
dt dt L
diL iL VS
 
dt DT L

iL closed  VS DT
L

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Step‐Up Boost Converter
• Analysis
 Switch opened (from time on to )
The inductor voltage is:
diL di V  VO
VL  VS  VO  L  L  S
dt dt L

Therefore decreases linearly.

diL iL V  VO
  S
dt 1  D T L

iL opened  VS  VO (1  D)T

L

Step‐Up Boost Converter
• The change in over one period is zero:
iL closed  iL opened  0
 VS   V  VO 
  DT   S (1  D )T  0
 L  L 
VS VO 1
VO  or 
1 D VS 1  D

• From this equation we can see that the output voltage is

always greater or equal to the input voltage.

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Advanced Power Conversion and Control 2017 ‐ 2018

Step‐Up Boost Converter
 The average inductor current can be found by writing
that: Input power = output power
2
 VS 
2  
VO  1  D  VS2
VS I L   
R R 1  D 2 R
VS
IL 
1 D 2 R
 The maximum inductor current is:
iL VS V DT
I max  I L    S
2 1  D  R 2 L
2

Step‐Up Boost Converter
 The minimum inductor current is:

iL VS VS DT
I min  I L   
2 1  D 2 R 2 L

 Inductance value
For the Continuous Conduction Mode ( 0)

VS V DT D(1  D) 2 R
L min   S 0 L min 
1  D  R 2 L
2 2f

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Step‐Up Boost Converter
Vs
 Output voltage ripple:
V 
Q   O  DT  CVO Vs ‐ Vo
 R
V DT VO D
VO  O 
RC RCf

 And the ripple factor is:

VO D
RF  
VO RCf

Step‐Up Boost Converter
• Example: Design a boost converter that will have an output
of 30 V from a 12‐V source. Design for continuous inductor
current and an output ripple voltage of less than one
percent. The load is a resistance of 50 . Assume ideal
components for this design.

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Step‐Up Boost Converter
• The duty ratio is:
12
1 0.6
30
• Let the switching frequency arbitrarily be 25 kHz.
• The minimum inductance size is:
1 0.6 1 0.6 50
96
2 2 25 10

• To provide a margin to ensure continuous current let

120

Step‐Up Boost Converter
• The average inductor current and the change in current
are:
12
1.5
1 1 0.6 50
• The maximum and minimum inductor currents are
Δ 12 0.6
1.2
2 2 2 120 10 25 10
1.5 1.2 2.7

1.5 1.2 0.3

0.6
48
Δ 50 . 01 25 10

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Buck‐Boost Converter
• Compared to the buck and boost converters, the
characteristics of the buck‐boost converter are:
 The polarity of the output voltage is opposite to that of
the input voltage.
 The output voltage can be higher (like a boost converter)
or lower (like a buck converter) in magnitude than the
input voltage.

Buck‐Boost Converter

• Circuit and Operation Principle

 The buck‐boost converter consists of a DC voltage
source , a controlled switch , an inductor , a diode
and filter capacitor and a load resistance R.

Vs

 When S is closed, the input voltage is directly connected

to the inductor .
 This results in accumulating energy in .

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Buck‐Boost Converter

In this state, the capacitor supplies energy to the load.

Vs

 When S is opened, the inductor is connected to the load

and capacitor.

Vs

Buck‐Boost Converter

• Analysis
 Switch Closed (from time 0 to ton)
The inductor voltage is:
VL  VS
di di V
VL  L L  L  S
dt dt L
Therefore increases linearly.

diL iL VS
 
dt DT L

iL closed  VS DT
L

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Buck‐Boost Converter
 Switch Opened (from time ton to T)
The inductor voltage is:

diL di V
VL  VO  L  L  O
dt dt L
Therefore
decreases linearly.

diL iL V
  O
dt 1  D T L

iL opened  VO (1  D)T

L

Buck‐Boost Converter
 Steady‐state operation:
iL closed  iL opened  0
 VS  V 
  DT   O (1  D)T  0
 L  L
D VO D
VO  VS or 
1 D VS 1 D
 The output voltage of the buck‐boost converter can be
either higher or lower than the input voltage.
‐ If D > 0.5  boost converter
‐ if D < 0.5  buck converter
 The output voltage is always negative.

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Buck‐Boost Converter
 Assuming that there is no power loss in the converter:
output power absorbed by the load = input power
VO2
VS I S 
R
 Since the average source current is related to the
average inductor current through:
VO2 VO2
IS  ILD VS I L D  VS I S   IL 
R VS DR

 Substituting
D VS D
VO  VS  IL 
1 D R (1  D ) 2

Buck‐Boost Converter
 The maximum and minimum inductor current is:
ΔiL VS D V DT
I max = I L + = 2 + S
2 (1 D ) R 2L
iL VS D V DT
I min  I L    S
2 1  D  R 2 L
2

 Inductance value
For the Continuous Conduction Mode ( 0)

VS D VS DT (1  D) 2 R
  0  Lmin 
1  D 2 R 2 L 2f

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Buck‐Boost Converter

 Output voltage ripple:

V 
Q   O  DT  CVO
 R
V DT VO D
VO  O 
RC RCf
 And the ripple factor is:

VO D
RF  
VO RCf

Cuk Converter
• The buck, boost and buck‐boost converters use an
inductor for energy storage.
• The Cuk (pronounced “Chook” named after Slobodan Cuk
who first presented the design) converter uses a capacitor
as the main energy storage.
• Cuk converter has evolved from cascading a boost and
buck converters.

VS S

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Cuk Converter
• The advantage of the Cuk converter over the standard
buck‐boost is that it provides:
 A regulated DC output voltage at higher efficiency with
identical components.
 Reduced ripple currents.
 Reduced switching losses.

Cuk Converter
• Analysis
 Switch Open
The diode in ON and energy is transferred from the
source and 1 to the transfer capacitor . The energy
stored in 2 is transferred to the output

Q1 = IL1 (1‐D)T

 
VS S

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Cuk Converter

 Switch Closed
The diode is OFF and energy is transferred from the
to 2.
Q2 = IL2DT

 
VS S

Cuk Converter

L1 ‐ Voltage and currents waveforms L2 ‐ Voltage and currents waveforms

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Cuk Converter
• In steady‐state, the net change in voltage across the
capacitor, therefore the charge entering the capacitor
during must be equal to that leaving the capacitor
during .
Q1  Q2  I L1toff  I L 2ton
I L1  1  D T  I L 2  DT
• Therefore
I L1 I o 1  D
 
I L2 I s D
• For an ideal converter, the input power is equal to the
output power. Vo D

Vs 1 D

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