Emulated ripple technique advances hysteretic switchmode supplies| Power Management DesignLine Page 1

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February 25, 2008

Emulated ripple technique advances hysteretic switchmode supplies

By Frederik Dostal, National

Semiconductor
The circuitry for hysteretic control in traditional switchmode power supplies is relatively simple and doesn't
require compensation for stability, as with voltage- and current-mode regulators. Hysteretic control uses a
comparator instead of an error amplifier to check if the output voltage is out of regulation. The scheme has
fast transient response, is easy to implement, and doesn't cost much. But there are disadvantages. The
switching frequency isn't constant, mainly the result of changes in input voltage. The design must also provide
sufficient ripple voltage for the comparator for proper operation. This minimum ripple requirement usually
results in an output ripple voltage that may not be acceptable in some applications. Constant on-time (COT)
techniques avoid the wide change of switching frequency with line variations. Emulated ripple mode (ERM) is
the latest advance, and eliminates the minimum-ripple requirement.

How hysteretic control works

The typical hysteretic mode controller (Fig. 1, such an example is National Semiconductor's LM3485) offers a
very simple way to regulate a fixed output voltage. The necessary building blocks are a reference, hysteretic
comparator, and a power stage that creates a pulse width modulation (PWM) duty-cycle based on the output
of the comparator.

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Figure 1: Pure hysteretic mode control

When the output voltage is below the comparator's low-voltage threshold, the power stage turns on; the
duration of this on-time pulse is a function of how long the output voltage stays below the threshold. As a
result, the pulse frequency is not constant, but depends on how the output voltage changes during both the
on-time and off-time. Hysteretic control does not require an internal oscillator. Switching frequency depends on
the external components and operating conditions such as load current and line voltage, since these
parameters influence when the output voltage crosses the hysteretic comparator thresholds.

As mentioned previously, this technique is fast, simple, and low-cost. Its disadvantage is its varying switching
frequency, which depends on such power stage components as the inductor and output capacitor, as well as

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the changing input voltage. A second disadvantage is the aforementioned ripple voltage requirement at the
input (feedback pin) of the comparator. If the ripple generated by the inductor current ripple and the output
capacitor is phase shifted, the output voltage will not cross the hysteretic comparator thresholds in phase, and
the control scheme will not work smoothly. The result is burst-mode operation; the waveform will not be
continuous or clean.

When a ceramic capacitor, which has a very low equivalent series resistance (ESR), is used as an output
capacitor, the wave shape of the main voltage ripple will be mostly determined by the capacitance and not by
the ESR of the component. The resulting output contains a sinewave-like voltage ripple, shifted by 90 degrees.
A capacitor with higher ESR (such as an electrolytic) creates a triangle-like voltage ripple in sync with the
switch waveform. Figure 2 depicts the differences in the waveforms.

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Figure 2: Output ripple across ceramic versus

electrolytic capacitors

The benefit of constant on-time (COT)

Constant on-time (COT) control minimizes the change in switching frequency with line variations which,
depending on the particular hysteretic design, would otherwise vary the switching frequency significantly and
create many problems. Traditional designs, for example, require a system's EMI filter (if implemented) to work
effectively over a wide range of frequencies. Consequently, the power stage components and the input
capacitor must also be appropriately selected to operate well over the wide range of switching frequency.

Constant on-time control sets a fixed on-time, which is influenced by only the input voltage. The on-time
becomes inversely proportional to the input voltage. With this feed-forward correction of line variations, the
switching frequency will not have to change and so the simple relationship of duty cycle to input and output
voltage (i.e., D = Vout/V in), is retained.

This technique also improves line regulation in some voltage-mode regulators. In a pure voltage-mode
regulator, the duty-cycle is corrected only after the effect of a line transient is seen on the output voltage. In
constant on-time systems (such as National's LM5010), line changes are taken into consideration before they
even influence the output voltage. See Fig. 3. The timer determines an on-time that is a function of V as well
in
as a frequency setting resistor between V in and the on-timer function block.

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Figure 3: Constant on-time (COT) control

Adding ERM
The emulated ripple mode (ERM) for pure hysteretic control allows the use of ceramic output capacitors with

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very low ESR values. The circuitry senses the supply's inductor current during the off-time and injects the
necessary ripple into the hysteretic comparator. In typical constant on-time regulators, the on-time is fixed and
changes only with the input voltage. The critical threshold that defines the timing for stable operation is the
low-voltage threshold of the hysteretic comparator. This threshold needs to be crossed with a signal that is in
sync with the switching action. If an output capacitor with higher ESR is selected, its ripple on the feedback
node can be used to drive the hysteretic comparator.

Instead of requiring the output voltage to drop, the circuit senses a portion of the off-time low-side current and
injects it into the error comparator. Thus the comparator has a correctly timed signal to start a new cycle.

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Figure 4: Emulated ripple mode (ERM) control

The general block diagram in Figure 4 shows how an ERM loop is added on to a constant on-time hysteretic
mode power converter in order to eliminate the greatest drawbacks of traditional circuits. National's LM3100
family of buck regulators provides one example of the ERM implementation in a complete one-chip
synchronous design. The circuitry senses current during the off-time at node A. This is very easily done in
synchronous regulators where the low side switch is integrated into the IC. As a result, the off-time current
information can easily be collected without the need for an external sense resistor or additional IC input. The
off-time current ramp information is in sync with the switch node and is AC coupled to node B by a small
capacitance. The positive input of the hysteretic error comparator now sees the required ripple, which is in
phase with the switch node voltage waveform. The negative input of the comparator will not need to provide
this ripple information and by design the output capacitor may be a ceramic, organic, or other very low ESR
capacitor.

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