This invention relates to electronic power supply converters for energy systems and more particularly to DC-DC converter and AC-DC converter with power factor correction.
Digital control is becoming more and more popular because of the process advancement of CMOS technology. In addition, the power requirement is becoming more and more complicated and the conventional analog control method can no longer meet this requirements. Digital control of power converter and power system can meet these more and more complicated power requirement. It is expected that digital control will replace analog control in switching power converters.
At the present time, the control algorithms used in digital controllers are translated directly from analog algorithms. In other words, they are digital implementation of the algorithms that are optimized for analog implementation. They are not optimized for digital implementation.
For DC-DC converter, current mode control is widely used because of its advantages. Peak current mode control, average current mode control, and hysteresis current mode control are three commonly used current mode control methods.
Current mode control can improve the dynamic performance of the DC-DC converter significantly because it utilizes the inductor current information, together with the output voltage information. Unfortunately, the conventional current mode control methods are optimized for analog implementation. It is very difficult to implement those methods using digital circuits.
Thus, there is a need for a new current mode control method that is suitable for both analog and digital implementation. It is called parallel current mode control. The parallel current mode control can be applied to both DC-DC converter and AC-DC converter with power factor correction.
There are several disadvantages in existing digital control PFC implementation systems based on conventional current mode control, such as high computational requirement, limited switching frequency and high cost. Predictive control methods are being explored and implemented in digital controlled PFC in order to take full advantage of digital techniques. One such digital current program control using a predictive algorithm was presented by Chen et al in “Predictive Digital Current programmed Control”, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol 18, No 1, January 2003, pp411-419. In that paper, the duty cycle, d(n+1), was calculated based on the value of the present duty cycle d(n) and sensed inductor current, input voltage and output voltage. Unity power factor was achieved. The first disadvantage is that the duty cycle calculation requires the duty cycle value in the previous switching cycle. Second, the computation requirement is not obviously reduced compared to that in the digital PFC implementation based on current mode control. Bibian et al, in “Digital Control with improved performance for boost power factor correction circuits”, Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition 2001, 16th Annual IEEE, pp137-143 proposed dead-beat predictive control in which a predicted duty cycle was used to control the switch during a control period which is equivalent to several or several tens switching cycles. The duty cycles were fixed during one control period. Computation was reduced in that control method. However, the harmonics in the line current was increased compared to the control method in which the duty cycle was calculated in every switching cycle. The computation requirement in digital PFC implementations was reduced further by the techniques proposed by Zhang et al in APEC 2003, pp 403-409 and PESC 2003, pp335-341 because all the duty cycles for a half line period were calculated in advance based on the voltage loop and the input voltage feed-forward. However, the current waveform is sensitive to the parameters of the model and the capability of the regulation to the step load change is not satisfied when the load variation is wide. Thus there is still a need for a direct duty cycle control algorithm with low calculation requirement for digital power factor correction implementation.
One object of the present invention is to provide a method to achieve current mode control that is optimized for digital implementation. The proposed parallel current mode control can achieve this objective.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method that is optimized for digital implementation to achieve unity power factor for AC-DC converter. The proposed PFC control method can be implemented by a low cost DSP, FPGA or ASIC due to its low computation requirement. It overcomes the disadvantages of the existing digital PFC techniques mentioned above, such as high computation requirement, model sensitivity and increased harmonics.
By one aspect of this invention there is provided a method for controlling power factor under steady and transient state conditions in an AC-DC power supply converter system with power factor correction based on Boost topology, comprising:
According to the present control method, the duty cycle is composed of two parallel terms. The first term is called the “voltage term”. It depends on the input voltage and the desired output voltage. The expression of this term depends on the topology of the switching converters. Essentially, this term is determined by the volt-second balance of the specific converter. The second term is called the “current term” and it depends on the inductor current change between the inductor current value at the beginning of the switching cycle and the reference inductor current value at the end of that switching cycle. With this parallel current mode control method, the inductor current of the converter, such as Buck-Boost, Boost, Buck, etc., will follow the reference current with a difference gap between the reference current value and actual inductor current value. This difference gap is determined by the load condition. At the same time, the output voltage of the converter will exactly follow the reference voltage in the voltage closed loop implementation which will be elaborated in section 2. In fact, it is because the difference gap between the reference inductor current and actual inductor current that the output voltage can follow the reference voltage without error. This control philosophy essentially distinguishes from the conventional current mode control and any other control methods with two regulators (one for voltage regulation and one for current regulation) constructed serially.
The present parallel current mode control can be applied to all DC-DC converters, including both non-isolated and isolated topologies. It can also be applied to AC-DC converter with power factor correction.
The present parallel current mode control is optimized for digital implementation. It can also be implemented by analog implementation.
The block diagram of the conventional current mode control is shown in
1. Basic Idea of Parallel Current Mode Control
1.1. Parallel Current Mode Control for Buck-Boost Converter
The basic idea of Parallel Current Mode Control can best be explained by using the Buck-Boost converter as an example, as shown in
When switch Q is off, the inductor current can be expressed as:
It is noted that the inductor current changes linearly during the operation. Therefore, the inductor current at the beginning of the next switching period (n+1), which is the same as that at the end of the present switching period (n) can be expressed as:
In the above equation, iL(n) indicates the inductor current value at the beginning of the present switching period. iL(n+1) indicates the inductor current value at the beginning of the next switching period. d(n) indicates the duty cycle for switching period n. Equation (3) reveals the relation between the inductor current at the beginning of the next switching period, iL(n+1), and the inductor current at the beginning of the present witching period, iL(n), the input voltage, Vin(n), output voltage, Vo, and the duty cycle for present switching period, d(n). Ts is the switching period and L is the inductor value.
Equation (3) can be re-arranged as:
Equation (4) indicates that in order to force the inductor current to reach value of iL(n+1) at the beginning of next switching period, the duty cycle determined by equation (4) should be applied for the present switching period. This is a very important observation. This fact indicates one method to control the operation of the Buck-Boost converter.
It is proposed that the inductor current at the end of the switching cycle, iL(n+1) can be replaced by a reference current, iref(n+1). It is also observed that under normal operating condition, the output voltage, Vo, is very close to the desired reference voltage, Vref. Therefore, the term V, in equation (4) can be replaced by the reference voltage Vref. Therefore, the duty cycle can be generated as:
The above equation can be further simplified as:
d(n)=dutybuck
In the above equation,
Equation (6) shows that the duty cycle for switching period n depends on two terms. One is voltage term and the other is current term. The voltage term, dutybuck
In
In order to simplify the implementation, equation (6), (7) and (8) can be re-written as:
Based on parallel current mode control, the control algorithm for Flyback converter can be derived as:
where L is inductor value and Ts is switching period, and N is transformer turns ratio which is defined as the ratio of primary turns over secondary turns. Equation (5.1) can be simplified to equation (5) when N=1.
1.2. Parallel Current Mode Control for Boost Converter
It is noted that the parallel current mode control algorithms for other switching converters can also be derived in a similar way. Another example of how to derive the parallel current mode control is given for Boost converter as shown in
When switch Q is off, the inductor current can be expressed as:
Therefore, the inductor current at the beginning of the next switching period (n+1), which is same as that at the end of the present switching period (n) can be expressed as:
The required duty cycle for switching period n can be derived as:
It is proposed that the inductor current at the end of the switching cycle, iL(n+1) can be replaced by a reference current, iref(n+1). It is also observed that under normal operating condition, the output voltage, Vo, is very close to the desired reference voltage, Vref. Therefore, the term Vo in equation (12) can be replaced by the reference voltage Vref. Therefore, the duty cycle can be generated as:
Equation (13) can be further simplified as:
d(n)=dutyboost(V)+dutyboost(I) (14)
The expression for voltage term and current term in equation (14) is:
The block diagram for parallel current mode control for Boost converter is shown in
The difference between
Based on parallel current mode control, the control algorithm for isolated Boost converter can be derived as:
where L is inductor value, Ts is switching period, and N is transformer turns ratio which is defined as the ratio of primary turns over secondary turns. Equation (13.1) can be simplified to equation (13) when N=1.
1.3. Parallel Current Mode Control for other DC-DC Converters
The control algorithm of parallel current mode control for Buck converter can also be derived by the same method described above and is shown in the following equations.
The above expression can also be separated into voltage term and current term as following:
The implementation of the parallel current mode control for Buck converter can also be realized by
In order to simplify the implementation, equation (18), (19) and (20) can be re-written as:
With this arrangement, only one divider is needed.
Based on parallel current mode control, the control algorithm for Forward, Push-Pull, Half-Bridge, Full-Bridge topologies is derived as:
where L is inductor value, Ts is switching period, where K=1 for Forward, Push-Pull, and Full-Bridge converters and K=0.5 for Half-Bridge converter, and where N is transformer turns ratio which is defined as the ratio of primary turns over secondary turns. Equation (17.1) can be simplified to equation (17) when N=1 and K=1.
1.4. General Block Diagram of Parallel Current Mode Control
2. Closed Loop Implementation of Parallel Current Mode Control
Closed loop operation is required in order to regulate the output voltage tightly. The closed loop implementation of the parallel current mode control is illustrated in
This section provides the detailed implementation of parallel current mode control using digital implementation and sampling the inductor current at the beginning of switching period. Digital control is, by its nature, a discrete control. This means that samples of inductor current, input voltage, output voltage, etc. are normally taken in every switching period. The fact that the inductor current is sampled at the beginning of switching period is significant for digital control. This provides the latest possible information for the controller to decide the required duty cycle for the present switching period.
2.1. Boost Converter Implementation
KC=L/(Ts*Vref) (21)
Adder 2 and gain block 2 perform the current term calculation, as given by equation (16).
The difference between the input voltage and the reference voltage is calculated by adder 1. The output of adder 1, A1, is scaled by a constant, 1/Vref, through gain block 2. Adder 1 and gain block 1 perform the voltage term calculation as given by equation (15). The output of these two gain blocks, G1 and G2, are added together by adder 3 to generate the required duty cycle D(n). D(n) is a digital value corresponding to the required duty cycle. This digital value is converted into required pulse width through DPWM (Digital Pulse Width Modulation block). The output of the DPWM is fed into the gate drive block to turn on and turn off the MOSFET effectively.
It should be noted that the implementations shown in
2.2. Other Converter Implementation
The implementation for other converters, such as Buck, Buck-Boost, etc., can be implemented in the same way, as will be obvious to anyone skilled in the art.
2.3. Analog Implementation
Although the proposed parallel current mode control is optimized for digital implementation. It can also be implemented by analog circuits.
2.3.1. Analog Control Algorithms for Parallel Current Mode Control
The control algorithms for parallel current mode control are expressed in digital format. The analog expression of the parallel current mode control can be derived. From equations (6.1), (7.1), and (8.1), the analog algorithms for Buck-Boost converter under parallel current mode control can be derived as:
Similarly, the analog algorithms for Boost converter under parallel current mode control can be derived from equations (14), (15), and (16) as following:
The analog algorithms for other converters can also be derived in the same way.
2.3.2. Analog Implementation
It should be noted that in practice, some of the OpAmps could be combined.
Similarly, the analog implementation for other converters under parallel current mode control can also be developed by a person skilled in the art. The details are not presented here.
2.4. Parallel Current Mode Control Without Input Voltage Feed Forward
For Buck converter and Buck-Boost converter, the input voltage appears in the denominator of the duty cycle calculation in the parallel current mode control. This input voltage feedforward will improve the dynamic performance. At the time, this also requires a divider in the implementation.
In some cases, where the input voltage does not change quickly, or the dynamic performance for input voltage variation is not critical, the input voltage feedforward is not needed. In these cases, the divider is not needed and a gain block can be used. This will simplify the implementation circuit.
Take the Buck-Boost converter under parallel current mode control as an example. Equations (6.1), (7.1), and (8.1) are the control algorithm. When no input voltage feed forward is needed, the term Vin(n) can be replaced by a constant voltage. One value of the constant can be the nominal input voltage, Vin
The parallel current mode control for Buck and other DC-DC converter without input voltage feed forward can also be derived by similar method described above.
3. Parallel Current Mode Control for Power Factor Correction Application
In an AC-DC converter, Power Factor Correction (PFC) is needed in order to meet regulations, such as IEC-1000-3-2 and IEEE-519. In this case, the input ac current is forced to be a sinusoidal wave shape in the same phase with the input voltage. Two terms are used to evaluate how close the ac current is to the ideal sinusoidal. One is defined as Power Factor (PF). The other is defined as Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). When the input current is a pure sinusoidal and in the same phase with the input voltage, the PF is one (1) and THD is zero (0).
3.1. Control Algorithm for Boost Converter to Achieve PFC
Boost converter has been used extensively for power factor correction. The parallel current mode control can be used to control the Boost converter to achieve high power factor with significant advantages over the existing technologies.
Equations (14), (15), and (16), describe the parallel current mode control for DC-DC Boost converter. In order to achieve power factor correction, the reference current, as shown in equation (16), should be a rectified sinusoidal waveform. This means the reference current should be:
iref(n+1)=IPK*|sin(ωline·t(n+1))| (32)
In the above equation, IPK is the peak value of the sinusoidal waveform. IPK is obtained from the output of the output voltage error amplifier. ωline is the angular frequency of the line current. |sin(ωlinet(n+1))| is the rectified line frequency sinusoidal waveform. Substituting equation (32) to equation (16), the parallel current mode control algorithm for Boost topology using in AC-DC converter to achieve power factor correction can be derived as the following equations:
where, different from the parallel current mode control algorithm for Boost converter in DC-DC application, Vin(n) in equation (34) is the rectified ac line voltage in AC-DC application with power factor correction.
3.2. Digital Implementation of PFC
The functions of all the other parts are same for
The current waveform lookup table can store the sinusoidal waveform. The zero cross detector and current waveform lookup table are used to generate a rectified sinusoidal waveform with unity peak value. The output of the current waveform lookup table is multiplied together with the output of the voltage error amplifier, IPK. The output of the multiplier is a rectified sinusoidal waveform with peak value determined by the output of the error amplifier, IPK, and the wave shape decided by the current waveform lookup table. It serves as the reference value for the inductor current. The operation of the other parts of the controller is the same as that in
The following points should be emphasized:
(2) The current waveform lookup table can also store any arbitrary waveform which can be used in order to force the input ac current follow to that waveform. For example, when a trapezoidal waveform is stored in the current waveform lookup table, the inductor current will be a one-directional trapezoidal waveform, and the input ac current will be bi-directional trapezoidal waveform. The input voltage can still be sinusoidal. One advantage of this arrangement is that the transient response performance under load current change can be improved because more energy can be taken from the source.
A simplified way can be used to implement AC-DC converter with power factor correction using Boost converter based on parallel current mode control. In this simplified implementation, the zero crossing detection block and the current waveform lookup table block in
3.2.1. Skipping Inductor Current Sampling
In the above discussion, it is implied that the inductor current is sampled every switching period. It is also feasible that the inductor current be sampled once in every few switching periods. For the switching period when the inductor current is sampled, the actual inductor current is used to calculate the duty cycle. For the switching period when the actual inductor current is not sampled, the estimated inductor current is used to calculate the duty cycle. This is called skipping inductor current sampling.
One advantage of skipping inductor current sampling is reduced sampling requirement. This is especially true when multiphase Boost converter is used for power factor correction. Preliminary test results show that the inductor current skipping can be as high as 16 switching periods. In other words, the THD can still be maintained at very low level when the inductor current is sensed once in every 16 switching period. This is especially good for DSP (Digital Signal Processor) of the proposed control method.
3.3. Analog Implementation
The parallel current mode control for Boost converter can also be implemented by analog circuits. The analog control algorithm for Boost converter can be derived from equations (33), (34) an (35) as following:
The functions of all the other parts are same for
The oscillator can generate rectified sinusoidal waveform. The zero cross detector and oscillator are used to generate a rectified sinusoidal waveform with unity peak value. The oscillator is multiplied together with the output of the OpAmp5 (voltage error amplifier), IPK. The output of the multiplier is a rectified sinusoidal waveform with peak value determined by the output of OpAmp5, IPK, and the wave shape decided by the oscillator. It serves as the reference value for the inductor current. The operation of the other parts of the controller is the same as that in
The following points should be emphasized:
The zero crossing detector and the oscillator can be replaced by an Automatic Gain Control (AGC), as shown in