Low-voltage-swing monolithic dc-dc conversion

A low-voltage-swing MOSFET gate drive technique is proposed in this paper for enhancing the efficiency characteristics of high-frequency-switching dc-dc converters. The parasitic power dissipation of a dc-dc converter is reduced by lowering the voltage swing of the power transistor gate drivers. A comprehensive circuit model of the parasitic impedances of a monolithic buck converter is presented. Closed-form expressions for the total power dissipation of a low-swing buck converter are proposed. The effect of reducing the MOSFET gate voltage swings is explored with the proposed circuit model. A range of design parameters is evaluated, permitting the development of a design space for full integration of active and passive devices of a low-swing buck converter on the same die, for a target CMOS technology. The optimum gate voltage swing of a power MOSFET that maximizes efficiency is lower than a standard full voltage swing. An efficiency of 88% at a switching frequency of 102 MHz is achieved for a voltage conversion from 1.8 to 0.9 V with a low-swing dc-dc converter based on a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology. The power dissipation of a low-swing dc-dc converter is reduced by 27.9% as compared to a standard full-swing dc-dc converter.     

Power loss-oriented evaluation of high voltage IGBTs and multilevel converters in transformerless traction applications

The low-frequency line transformer in todays ac rail vehicles suffers from poor efficiency and a substantial weight. Future traction drives may operate directly from the mains without this transformer. A feasible concept for a transformerless drive system consists of series connected medium voltage converters applying modern high-voltage insulated gate bipolar transistors (HV-IGBTs). In a first design step, the switching characteristics and losses of 6.5-kV IGBTs are compared to 3.3-kV and 4.5-kV IGBTs which are already commercially used in traction applications. Based on the considered HV-IGBTs, the properties of multilevel converters are analyzed and their applicability to the transformerless system is evaluated. The paper focusses on a loss analysis of the converters. Reliability aspects and harmonic spectra are briefly discussed. Taking these design aspects into account, the three-level neutral point clamped converter turns out to be a reasonable solution to realize line and motor converter modules in a transformerless traction system.     

DC-DC converter: four switches V/sub pk/=V/sub in//2, capacitive turn-off snubbing, ZV turn-on

A new four-switch full-bridge dc-dc converter topology is especially well-suited for power converters operating from high input voltage: it imposes only half of the input voltage across each of the four switches. The two legs of a full-bridge converter are connected in series with each other, across the dc input source, instead of the usual topology in which each leg is connected across the dc source. The topology reduces turn-off switching losses by providing capacitive snubbing of the turn-off voltage transient, and eliminates capacitor-discharge turn-on losses by providing zero-voltage turn-on. (Switching losses are especially important in converters operating at high input voltage because turn-on losses are proportional to the square of the input voltage, and turn-off losses are proportional to the input voltage). The topology is suitable for resonant and nonresonant converters. It adds one bypass capacitor and one commutating inductor to the minimum-topology full-bridge converter (that inductor is already present in many present-day converters, to provide zero-voltage turn-on, or is associated with one or two capacitors to provide resonant operation), and contains a dc-blocking capacitor in series with the output transformer, primary winding, and some nonresonant converters (that capacitor is already present in resonant power converters). The paper gives a theoretical analysis, and experimental data on a 1.5-kW example that was built and tested: 600-Vdc input, 60-Vdc output at up to 25A, and 50-kHz switching frequency. The measured performance agreed well with the theoretical predictions. The measured efficiency was 93.6% at full load, and was a maximum of 95.15% at 44.8% load.     

Zero-Voltage and Zero-Current Switching Full-Bridge DC–DC Converter With Auxiliary Transformer

A novel zero-voltage and zero-current switching (ZVZCS) full-bridge phase-shifted pulsewidth modulation (PWM) converter using insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) with auxiliary transformer is proposed to improve the properties of the previously presented converters. ZVZCS for all power switches is achieved for full load range from no-load to short circuit by adding active energy recovery snubber and auxiliary circuits. The principle of operation is explained and analyzed and experimental results are presented. The features and design considerations of the converter are verified on a 3-kW, 50-kHz IGBT based experimental circuit.     

低压大电流大功率软开关全桥变换器拓扑结构分析

分析研究了低压大电流全桥变换器电路拓扑结构。分别介绍了功率变压器初级移相控制零电压(ZVS)PWM和移相控制零电压零电流(ZVZCS)PWM软开关全桥变换器主电路拓扑结构,以及功率变压器次级适宜采用的不同电路拓扑形式,并对其优缺点进行了对比分析。文中简要说明了在变换器输入级加入功率因数校正环节的必要性。     

A self core reset and zero voltage switching forward convertertopology

A self core reset and zero voltage switching (ZVS) forward converter topology is presented in this paper. By employing a simple auxiliary circuit, the proposed topology is able to achieve self reset of the power transformer without the use of the conventional tertiary reset winding, and its main switch can be turned on and turned off under ZVS independent of line and load conditions. This simplifies the power transformer, and the switching losses are substantially removed to improve the overall efficiency. Steady state analysis of the circuit is performed. Based on the analysis, a design procedure is presented, and the effects of the circuit parameters on the flux excursion of the power transformer are investigated to make sure self reset can be achieved without increasing the core losses. Simulation and experiment on a 5 V, 100 W prototype circuit operated at 200 kHz are carried out to verify the design, about 5% higher overall efficiency is obtained in the prototype converter than in its conventional counterpart     

采用辅助变压器的零电压零电流开关全桥直-直变换器

本文给出了一种新型的零电压零电流开关全桥移相脉宽调制变换器,该变换器采用IGBT为功率开关管,在传统变换器的基础上通过增加辅助变压器的方式提高了变换器的性能,通过增加正激能量恢复缓冲器和辅助电路,使变换器在各种负载以及短路工作状态下都能够保证所有开关管实现零电压零电流开关工作模式。介绍了变换器的工作原理并通过试验得到了较好的结果。     

Active-clamp snubbers for isolated half-bridge DC-DC converters

In conventional isolated half-bridge dc-dc converters, the leakage-inductance-related losses degrade converter efficiency and limit the ability to increase the converters' switching frequencies. In this paper, a novel active-clamp snubber circuit for half-bridge dc-dc converters is proposed to recycle the energy stored in the leakage inductance by transferring this energy to a capacitor with zero-voltage zero-current-switching switched auxiliary switches, such that body-diode conduction of primary-side main switches are prevented and primary side ringing are attenuated resulting in improved converter efficiency. Principles of operation and simulation analysis are presented and supported by experimental results that show significant improvement in efficiency.     

Comparative Study of Soft-Switched Isolated DC-DC Converters for Auxiliary Railway Supply

In modern railways coaches, the electrical separation between the high voltage side and the auxiliary equipments on the consumer side is realized by means of heavy and bulky 50-Hz transformers. In order to reduce the weight and size of the devices, today new power supply systems are proposed that consist in soft-switched isolated dc-dc converters with a lightweight medium frequency transformer and diverse output modules supplied by a common 600-V dc intermediate circuit. This paper aims to investigate in detail two such solutions of isolated dc-dc converters for auxiliary railway supply where zero-current transitions are achieved for the primary inverter switches. A comparison based on several criteria (overall power rating, losses in power semiconductor devices, operation in the whole range of load, etc.) is presented.      

Interleaved soft switching resonant converter with a small input ripple current

ABSTRACT

An interleaved frequency control soft switching converter is studied for solar power or fuel cell power applications. The proposed circuit topology contains two parallel current-fed circuit cells with interleaved pulse-width modulation operation. Thus, the ripple currents at input and output terminals are decreased. In each circuit cell, the proposed current-fed dc-dc converter includes boost circuit and resonant circuit to achieve current ripple-free on low voltage side and less switching losses on active devices. The boost circuit and the resonant circuit have same active devices to decrease power switches. Due to the resonant behaviour, the reverse recovery current loss on secondary diodes is removed. The voltage doubler circuit topology is accomplished on secondary-side to reduce diode counts and conduction loss. The performance and effectiveness of the developed interleaved PWM current-fed converter are verified and confirmed by experiments.     

A ZVZCS PWM FB DC/DC converter using a modified energy-recovery snubber

The conventional high-frequency phase-shifted zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) full-bridge DC/DC converter has a disadvantage, in that a circulating current flows through transformer and switching devices during the freewheeling interval. Due to this circulating current, RMS current stress, conduction losses of the transformer and switching devices are increased. To alleviate this problem, this paper proposes an improved zero-voltage zero-current switching (ZVZCS) phase-shifted full-bridge (FB) DC/DC converter with a modified energy-recovery snubber (ERS) attached at the secondary side of transformer. Also, the small signal model of the proposed ZVZCS FB DC/DC converter is derived by incorporating the effects introduced by a transformer leakage inductance and an ERS to achieve ZVZCS. Both analysis and experiment are performed to verify the proposed topology by implementing a 7-kW (120 VDC, 58 A) 30-kHz insulated-gate-bipolar-transistor-based experimental circuit.     

Energy Management Power Converters in Hybrid Electric and Fuel Cell Vehicles

Using a bidirectional dc-dc converter along with low-voltage energy storage for the high-voltage dc bus and traction motor drives has been a prominent option for hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles. This paper will describe the significance of energy management power converters and their circuit topology options for efficiency, size, and cost considerations. Whether isolated or nonisolated, soft switching techniques have been widely used in high-power bidirectional dc-dc converters. Through some design examples, the component selection and circuit design optimization are discussed, and their efficiency evaluation results are also given. Major difficulties of developing a high-power bidirectional dc-dc converter are found in lack of high-power passive components and lack of multiphase dc-dc controllers. More development work needs to be done in these areas     

High-Frequency Resonant Transistor DC-DC Converters

Transistor dc-dc converters which employ a resonant circuit are described. A resonant circuit is driven with square waves of current or voltage, and by adjusting the frequency around the resonant point, the voltage on the resonant components can be adjusted to any practical voltage level. By rectifying the voltage across the resonant elements, a dc voltage is obtained which can be either higher or lower than the input dc voltage to the converter. Thus, the converter can operate in either the step-up or step-down mode. In addition, the switching losses in the inverter devices and rectifiers are extremely low due to the sine waves that occur from the use of a resonant circuit (as opposed to square waves in a conventional converter); also, easier EMI filtering should result. In the voltage input version, the converter is able to use the parasitic diode associated with an FET or monolithic Darlington, while in the current input version, the converter needs the inverse blocking capability which can be obtained with an IGT or GTO device. A low-power breadboard operating at 200-300 kHz has been built. Two typical application areas are switching power supplies and battery chargers. The converter circuits offer improvements over conventional circuits due to their high efficiency (low switching losses), small reactive components (high-frequency operation), and their step-up/stepdown ability.     

Transistor Selection and Design of a VHF DC-DC Power Converter

This paper explores the design and performance of dc-dc power converters operating in the very high frequency (VHF, 30-300 MHz) range. Methods are presented for assessment and comparison of device losses in VHF operation under soft switching and soft gating conditions. These methods are applied to the development of a 2 W resonant boost converter operating at a switching frequency of 30 MHz. Design of the power stage, resonant gate drive, and control circuitry are treated in detail, and experimental results demonstrating the performance of the converter are presented.     

New zero voltage switching DC converter with flying capacitors

A new soft switching converter is presented for medium power applications. Two full-bridge converters are connected in series at high voltage side in order to limit the voltage stress of power switches at V_in/2. Therefore, power metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with 600 V voltage rating can be adopted for 1200 V input voltage applications. In order to balance two input split capacitor voltages in every switching cycle, two flying capacitors are connected on the AC side of two full-bridge converters. Phase-shift pulse-width modulation (PS-PWM) is adopted to regulate the output voltage. Based on the resonant behaviour by the output capacitance of MOSFETs and the resonant inductance, active MOSFETs can be turned on under zero voltage switching (ZVS) during the transition interval. Thus, the switching losses of power MOSFETs are reduced. Two full-bridge converters are used in the proposed circuit to share load current and reduce the current stress of passive and active components. The circuit analysis and design example of the prototype circuit are provided in detail and the performance of the proposed converter is verified by the experiments.     

Zero-voltage-switching half-bridge DC-DC converter with modified PWM control method

Asymmetric control scheme is an approach to achieve zero-voltage switching (ZVS) for half-bridge isolated dc-dc converters. However, it is not suited for wide range of input voltage due to the uneven voltage and current components stresses. This paper presents a novel "duty-cycle-shifted pulse-width modulated" (DCS PWM) control scheme for half-bridge isolated dc-dc converters to achieve ZVS operation for one of the two switches without causing the asymmetric penalties in the asymmetric control and without adding additional components. Based on the DCS PWM control scheme, an active-clamp branch comprising an auxiliary switch and a diode is added across the isolation transformer primary winding in the half-bridge converter to achieve ZVS for the other main switch by utilizing energy stored in the transformer leakage inductance. Moreover, the auxiliary switch also operates at ZVS and zero-current switching (ZCS) conditions. Furthermore, during the off-time period, the ringing resulted from the oscillation between the transformer leakage inductance and the junction capacitance of two switches is eliminated owing to the active-clamp branch and DCS PWM control scheme. Hence, switching losses and leakage-inductance-related losses are significantly reduced, which provides the converter with the potential to operate at higher efficiencies and higher switching frequencies. The principle of operation and key features of the proposed DCS PWM control scheme and two ZVS half-bridge topologies are illustrated and experimentally verified.     

A new ZVS bidirectional DC-DC converter for fuel cell and battery application

This paper presents a new zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) bidirectional dc-dc converter. Compared to the traditional full and half bridge bidirectional dc-dc converters for the similar applications, the new topology has the advantages of simple circuit topology with no total device rating (TDR) penalty, soft-switching implementation without additional devices, high efficiency and simple control. These advantages make the new converter promising for medium and high power applications especially for auxiliary power supply in fuel cell vehicles and power generation where the high power density, low cost, lightweight and high reliability power converters are required. The operating principle, theoretical analysis, and design guidelines are provided in this paper. The simulation and the experimental verifications are also presented.     

Analysis and implementation of active clamp SEPIC converter with synchronous rectifier

An active clamp SEPIC converter with synchronous rectifier is presented to achieve zero voltage switching (ZVS). The active clamp circuit is adopted in the proposed converter to absorb the energy stored in the leakage inductance of the transformer and limit the peak voltage stress on the switching devices. The resonance during the transition interval between the switching devices will help the power switches to turn on at ZVS. Therefore, the switching losses of switches are effectively reduced. The synchronous rectifier is used at the secondary side of the transformer to further reduce the conduction loss. The principle of operation and the steady-state analysis of the proposed converter are presented. Finally, the experimental results taken from a laboratory prototype with 240 W (12V/20A) rated power are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter.     

Characterization and Comparison of High Blocking Voltage IGBTs and IEGTs Under Hard- and Soft-Switching Conditions

The market of converters connected to transmission lines continues to require insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) with higher blocking voltages to reduce the number of IGBTs connected in series in high-voltage converters. To cope with these demands, semiconductor manufactures have developed several technologies. Nowadays, IGBTs up to 6.5-kV blocking voltage and IEGTs up to 4.5-kV blocking voltage are on the market. However, these IGBTs and injection-enhanced gate transistors (IEGTs) still have very high switching losses compared to low-voltage devices, leading to a realistic switching frequency of up to 1 kHz. To reduce switching losses in high-power applications, the auxiliary resonant commutated pole inverter (ARCPI) is a possible alternative. In this paper, switching losses and on-state voltages of NPT-IGBT (3.3 kV-1200 A), FS-IGBT (6.5 kV-600 A), SPT-IGBT (2.5 kV-1200 A, 3.3 kV-1200 A and 6.5 kV-600 A) and IEGT (3.3 kV-1200 A) are measured under hard-switching and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) conditions. The aim of this selection is to evaluate the impact of ZVS on various devices of the same voltage ranges. In addition, the difference in ZVS effects among the devices with various blocking voltage levels is evaluated.     

Soft switching resonant converter with duty-cycle control in DC micro-grid system

Resonant converter has been widely used for the benefits of low switching losses and high circuit efficiency. However, the wide frequency variation is the main drawback of resonant converter. This paper studies a new modular resonant converter with duty-cycle control to overcome this problem and realise the advantages of low switching losses, no reverse recovery current loss, balance input split voltages and constant frequency operation for medium voltage direct currentgrid or system network. Series full-bridge (FB) converters are used in the studied circuit in order to reduce the voltage stresses and power rating on power semiconductors. Flying capacitor is used between two FB converters to balance input split voltages. Two circuit modules are paralleled on the secondary side to lessen the current rating of rectifier diodes and the size of magnetic components. The resonant tank is operated at inductive load circuit to help power switches to be turned on at zero voltage with wide load range. The pulse-width modulation scheme is used to regulate output voltage. Experimental verifications are provided to show the performance of the proposed circuit.