In many facets of today's rapidly changing economy, successful businesses must deliver quality products and maximize value to their customers to survive. Even in the high-tech electronic controls arena, this simple reality still holds true.
Two ways in which control systems suppliers deliver value is by providing more accurate control solutions and by providing faster controllers. Accordingly, there is a need in the electronics industry to deliver a control system that can quickly and accurately regulate current in a load despite rapid changes in the supply voltage.
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention, and is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention nor to delineate the scope of the invention. Rather, the purpose of the summary is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
In one embodiment, a control system is configured to drive a load based on a set-point of the load, a measured load characteristic and a supply voltage of the load. The controller is configured to determine a duty cycle based on the load characteristic, the set-point, and the supply voltage. The controller is further configured to drive the load in response to the duty cycle.
The following description and annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects and implementations of the invention. These are indicative of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.
The present invention will now be described with respect to the accompanying drawings in which like numbered elements represent like parts. The figures and the accompanying description of the figures are provided for illustrative purposes and do not limit the scope of the claims in any way.
Control circuit 100 inputs and measures the load current from input 106 using amplifier 116 and analog-to-digital converter (A/D) 118 to create a digital word (I_wd) 110 measurement of the load current. This load current measurement I_wd 110 is then averaged 130 over one or more switching cycles. A dither signal 133 from a dither generator 132 is then summed with the current set-point 135, providing a result 138 which is then subtracted from the computed average load current 131 to provide a current error result 141. The current error result 141 is processed within a digital controller 144 to tailor the control circuit response characteristics which provides a controller output digital word signal Control_out signal 145. A PWM generation block 150, receives the Control_out signal 145, which is then modulated by a clock signal 151 to provide a pulse-width modulated output signal PWM_out 112. In this circuit, the duty cycle of the output signal PWM_out 112 is provided which is proportional to the digital controller output signal Control_out 145. The PWM_out 112 output signal feeds a gate driver 124 which buffers and drives this output signal at output 108 of the control circuit 100.
The external drive circuit 160 includes a shunt resistor 164 connected in series with the load 166, which is driven by a drive transistor 170 which is also driven, via resistor 172, by the drive output 108 of control circuit 100. The external drive circuit 160 receives supply power between supply voltage VBAT 162 and ground voltage Vgnd 163. The external drive circuit also comprises a clamp diode 174 to limit back EMF, and a filter capacitor 176 to smooth the switching. The control system 10 can manage a current that is delivered to the load 206 by selectively increasing or decreasing the current to drive the load with a current that is basically maintained as an average by switching the load at a frequency based on the clock signal 151.
For example, at time t0, VBAT 162 transitions from a lower supply voltage 162a to a higher supply voltage 162b. Prior to time t0, Control_out 145 is presumed to be at a reasonably stable state, wherein the average output current (e.g., 131) is about the same as the set-point current (e.g., 135), thus the Control_out 145 signal is stable. Signal 240 of
Also, in the example control circuit 100 of
The inventors of the present invention, however, have appreciated that such supply voltage response delays may be overcome by the addition of a load supply voltage compensation circuit to dramatically increase the output response rate during rapid supply voltage transitions. In particular, the present invention comprises a voltage supply measurement circuit and an innovative PWM generation circuit block which generates a duty cycle which is not only proportional to the average load current, but is also inversely proportional to the solenoid supply voltage.
In one embodiment, the solenoid supply voltage is converted to a digital word by an analog-to-digital converter. The digital representation of the solenoid supply voltage is an input to the PWM generation block. An increase in the solenoid supply voltage will result in a proportional reduction in the duty cycle. In existing solutions, the duty cycle would typically be corrected by the control circuit, which results in an unavoidable transient disturbance in the output average current to the load.
In one embodiment, the control circuit or current controller 300 comprises a compensated switching control circuit such as a state machine, a microcontroller, or another such custom integrated circuit. Control circuit 300. control circuit 300 comprises a controller 302 that is configured to digitally measure a load current I_wd 310 (e.g., by way of a measured load current, a voltage, a magnetic field, a light energy, and a power) of a load (in other embodiments, a solenoid, a motor, a light, an inductive load) measured at an input 306 (e.g., differential inputs RPx 306a and RNx 306b) thereof and a load voltage V_wd 311 of the load at an input Vx 314 thereof, and further can drive the load based on a set-point 315 (in other embodiments, a load current set-point, a voltage set-point, a magnetic field set-point, a light energy set-point, and a power set-point) of the load.
The control circuit 300 of the present embodiment also has a correction circuit 304 that can compute an average load current using the measured load current I_wd 310 over an integer number of cycles (in other embodiments, load switching cycles, clock cycles, or the cycles of another signal time base source). The correction circuit 304 of the embodiment is also configured to combine the computed average load current with the current set-point 315 (in other embodiments, a predetermined, initial set-point, user supplied setting, programmed setting) and a dither signal (in other embodiments, a signal for providing substantially continuous motion to the solenoid to avoid the effects of “sticktion” or overcoming static friction), and to determine an error based on the computed average load current relative to the set-point 315. The correction circuit 304 is further configured to determine a duty cycle PWM_out 312 (e.g., a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal representing an ON and OFF time ratio for switching the load) by modulating (in other embodiments, mixing, comparing, or computing the difference between the two signals or values) the current controller output 345 with the measured supply voltage V_wd 311. The controller 302 is also configured to drive the load when operably coupled thereto at output 308, in response to the duty cycle PWM_out 312 determined by the correction circuit 304.
Control system 400 comprises a controller 302, a correction circuit 304, and an external drive circuit 360 including a shunt resistor 364 and a load 366, which are driven by MOS drive transistor 370 driven via series resistor 372 from drive output Gx 308 of controller 302. The external drive circuit 360 receives supply power between supply voltage VBAT 362 and ground voltage Vgnd 363.
The control system 400 of the embodiment can manage, in one embodiment, a current that is delivered to the load 366 (in other embodiments, a solenoid, a motor, a light, or an inductive load) by selectively increasing or decreasing the average duty cycle at which the load is driven by switching, such that a constant average current is maintained by pulse width modulated (PWM) switching the load according to a preset, programmed, or otherwise input current set-point 315. The PWM signal may be provided using a clock signal input, while the frequency of the PWM signal may be determined by the particular load characteristics, the supply voltage used, and other such chosen variables.
In the illustrated embodiment of
After the shunt resistor 364 provides the sensed voltage, the sensed voltage (representing the load current) travels to the pair of differential inputs 306a, 306b of the controller 302, one embodiment of which is now discussed in more detail.
Differential amplifier 316 senses the differential voltage at 306a, 306b, for example, or another such load characteristic (in other embodiments, a load current, a voltage, a magnetic field, a light energy, and a power) indicative of the load, which is communicated at 317 to an analog to digital converter A/D 318, which are well known in the art. A/D 318 provides a digital measurement of the load current I_wd 310, or another such load characteristic to a digital averaging functional block 330 in the correction circuit 304. The averaging functional block 330 may, for example, provide a computed average load current 331 over one or more load switching cycles, for example, PWM switching cycles, PWM duty cycle periods “c”, or clock signal 351 cycles.
In the present embodiment of
In one embodiment, the dither generator 332 provides a periodic wave 333 that is a triangular wave of approximately 150 to 200 Hz that corresponds to the frequency at which the load oscillates about an initial set-point established by the current set-point 315. For example, in one embodiment where the load 366 includes a solenoid, the dither block 332 provides a periodic wave that is superimposed on the average current 331 to move the solenoid armature back and forth to avoid static friction (stiction).
The computed average load current 331 is then subtracted by a digital subtractor 340, in the embodiment of
In the present embodiment of
The inventors of the present invention have also appreciated that in another embodiment, the load voltage VBAT 362 received at Vx 314, may further be filtered either before entering Vx 314 such as by the use of an external filter capacitance or after Vx 314 such as by using an additional low-pass filter element between Vx 314 and the A/D converter 120, for example.
In the control circuit 300, the duty cycle (e.g., percent ON-time) of the output signal PWM_out 312 is proportional to the load current (e.g., load current set point 315), and is inversely proportional to the load voltage (e.g., V_wd 311).
Thus, the duty cycle may also be represented as:
By contrast to the circuit of
Thereafter, output signal PWM_out 312 feeds a gate driver 324 which buffers and drives this output signal at output 308 of the control circuit 300.
In one embodiment of the controller 302, the PWM_out 312 drive signal to the gate driver 324 may, for example, be delayed or be otherwise related to the input signals received by the PWM functional block 350, or by some other state-machine included in the PWM functional block 350 in one embodiment. The gate driver or another such output driver 324 may amplify or otherwise condition the signal to provide the drive signal at 308 to a field effect transistor FET 370. In one embodiment, the output driver 324 may be a single ended or a differential driver capable of driving one or more external or internal drive transistors, for example.
The external drive circuit 360 comprises a shunt resistor 364 connected in series with the load 366 (e.g., solenoid), which is driven by a drive transistor 370 which is also driven, via resistor 372 from the drive output 308 of control circuit 300. The external drive circuit 360 receives supply power between supply voltage VBAT 362 and ground voltage Vgnd 363. The external drive circuit 360 also comprises a clamp diode 374 to limit back EMF and a low pass filter capacitor 376 to smooth the switching. The control system 400 can thus manage a current that is delivered to the load 366 by selectively increasing or decreasing the average duty cycle at which the load is driven by switching, such that a constant average current is maintained by pulse width modulated (PWM) switching the load according to a preset, programmed, or otherwise input current set-point 315. The PWM signal may be provided using a clock signal input 351, while the frequency of the PWM signal may be determined or predetermined by the particular load characteristics, the supply voltage used, and other such chosen variables.
Thus the present embodiment of the invention may be used to regulate the average load current of a load, for example, a load current of a solenoid.
In one embodiment of the correction circuit 304, a synchronous serial peripheral interface or another such interface may be used to supply the initial settings for the required load current set-points 315 (in one embodiment, a 500 mA load current), the amplitude of the dither signal 333 (in one embodiment 150 mA P-P), the dither frequency (in one embodiment 175 Hz), PWM clock signal 351 frequency (in one embodiment 1-2 KHz), for example.
In an embodiment of the correction circuit 304, the digital summer functional block 336 and the digital subtractor 340 may comprise a digital adder or subtractor, or another such processor function capable of summing or mixing the current set-point 315, the dither signal 333, and the computed average current 331, to provide the current error signal 341.
For example, at time t0, VBAT 362 transitions from a lower supply voltage 362a to a higher supply voltage 362b. Prior to time t0, error signal Control_out 345 is presumed to be at a reasonably stable state, wherein the average output current (e.g., 331) is about the same as the set-point current (e.g., 315), thus the Control_out 345 signal is stable. Signal 540 of
Thus, the duty cycle may also be represented as:
Also, in the example control circuit 300 of
As shown in
The inventors of the present invention have thus appreciated that such supply voltage response delays may be overcome by the addition of a load voltage compensation or correction circuit to dramatically increase the output response rate during rapid supply voltage transitions. In particular, the present invention comprises a voltage supply measurement circuit and an innovative PWM generation circuit block which generates a duty cycle which is not only proportional to the average load current, but is also inversely proportional to the solenoid supply voltage.
In addition, the dither signal 333 having a dither amplitude 739 and a dither frequency or dither period 722, may be provided by the dither generator 332. The dither generator 332 may be used to provide a substantially continuous motion to the load (in other embodiments, the core or armature of a solenoid or a motor) when operably coupled thereto. Although the clock signal 351 may generally provide the time base for all computations of the control circuit 300, the dither signal 333 may alternately provide a time base source for the average block 330 in one embodiment for computing the average load current 331 over an integer number of dither cycle periods 722. The amplitude component 739 of the dither signal may be summed (or otherwise accounted for) in the embodiment of
In one embodiment, the control system 400 can provide a substantially constant average current upon which a periodic wave is superimposed and wherein the periodic wave has a frequency that is associated with a clock signal 351 and PWM switching frequency for the load, for example, at a frequency of about 2-10 Khz, depending upon the load currents, the supply voltage, and other operating conditions of the system.
In addition to or in substitution of one or more of the illustrated components, the illustrated control circuit, compensated control system and other systems of the invention include suitable circuitry, state machines, firmware, software, logic, etc. to perform the various methods and functions illustrated and described herein, including but not limited to the methods described below. While the methods illustrated herein are illustrated and described as a series of acts or events, it will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited by the illustrated ordering of such acts or events. For example, some acts may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts or events apart from those illustrated and/or described herein, in accordance with the invention. In addition, not all illustrated steps may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with the present invention. Furthermore, the methods according to the present invention may be implemented in association with the operation of systems which are illustrated and described herein (in other embodiments, circuit 300 of
Referring now to
At 820, a duty cycle (e.g., a/(a+b) at which the load (e.g., 366) is driven based on the measured load current (e.g., I_wd 310) and measured load voltage (e.g., V_wd 311) is determined.
At 830, the load is driven in response to the determined duty cycle. In one embodiment, the load 366 is driven by MOSFET 370 which is driven by an output driver 324, for example, using a PWM_out 312 drive signal.
In another embodiment of step 820 of method 800, the duty cycle determination may be obtained as shown in
At 822, a current control output signal (e.g., Control_out 345) is determined based on the computed average load current 331 relative to the current set-point 315.
Thereafter, at 823 the duty cycle (e.g., a/(a+b) is determined by modulating the current control output signal with the measured load voltage (e.g., V_wd 311).
In a further embodiment of method 800, after step 820 and at step 829 of
In yet another embodiment of step 820 of method 800, the duty cycle determination may be obtained as shown in
At 825, the current set-point 315 is summed with a dither signal 333 and the result thereof subtracted from the computed average load current 331 to determine a current error result 341.
At 826, the result 341 is adjusted with a set of proportional, integral, and derivative coefficients corresponding to a desired load switching response to provide a current control output signal (e.g., Control_out 345).
Thereafter, at 827 the current control output signal (e.g., Control_out 345) is compared to a ramp waveform signal (e.g., 540 of
Although the invention has been illustrated and described with respect to one or more implementations, alterations and/or modifications may be made to the illustrated examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
For example, in one embodiment, the load could be a solenoid. Further such a solenoid could be employed in an automotive system, such as an automatic transmission. In other embodiments, the load could be any other loads that a user desires to drive at an average load current and frequency.
Further, although in the illustrated embodiment, the one or more transistors are n-type metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), p-type MOSFETS could also be used including other types of switching devices (in other embodiments, transistors, bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), vacuum tubes, relays, etc.).
In another embodiment, two or more drive transistors similar to FET transistor 370 may be used to switch the load 366. In still another embodiment, the FET 370 of
In addition, although various embodiments may indicate that a current delivered to the load could be increased if one of the measured voltage exceeds another, the conventions used herein could also be reversed. Thus, one will understand that increases or decreases in voltage or other variables could be transposed or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments.
Further, in various embodiments, portions of the control circuit 300 and system 400 may be integrated into an integrated circuit, although in other embodiments the control system may be comprised of discrete devices. In one embodiment, portions of the external drive components may be integrated into a single IC with the controller 302 and/or the correction circuit 304. The load current sensor, for example, may be integrated into the same IC as the controller, or may be integrated into the same package as the controller, or may be integrated onto the same PCB board, or may be otherwise associated with the control system; depending on the implementation.
In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described components or structures (blocks, units, engines, assemblies, devices, circuits, systems, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component or structure which performs the specified function of the described component (or another functionally equivalent embodiment), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary implementations of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “including”, “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in either the detailed description and the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising”. In addition, to the extent that the terms “number”, “plurality”, “series”, or variants thereof are used in the detailed description or claims, such terms are to include any number including, but not limited to: positive integers, negative integers, zero, and other values.