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Adaptive nonlinear control of the DC-DC buck converters operating in CCM

and DCM

Article  in  International Transactions on Electrical Energy Systems · November 2013

DOI: 10.1002/etep.1679

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INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL ENERGY SYSTEMS
Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
Published online 23 August 2012 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/etep.1679

Adaptive nonlinear control of the DC-DC buck converters

operating in CCM and DCM

Mahdi Salimi1*,†, Jafar Soltani2,3, Gholamreza Arab Markadeh4 and Navid Reza Abjadi4
1
Department of Electrical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Electrical Engineering, Khomeinishahr, Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
3
Emeritus Professor with the Faculty of Electrical Eng., Isfahan University of Technology
4
Department of Engineering, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran

SUMMARY
In this paper, an adaptive nonlinear controller is designed for regulating the output voltage of DC-DC buck
converters, which is stable and robust with subject to widely changes of load demands and input voltage
variations. The proposed controller is developed based on adaptive backstepping approach and can be
applied for both Continuous and Discontinuous Conduction Modes (CCM and DCM). Using a stand-alone
TMS320F2810 digital signal processor from Texas instruments, some simulations and experimental results
have been obtained to verify the proposed control approach. These results are in good agreement and prove
the effectiveness and capability of the controller for both CCM and DCM operations. Copyright © 2012
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

key words: adaptive control; nonlinear system; DC-DC buck converters; CCM and DCM operations

1. INTRODUCTION

Three main types of switched power converters, named buck, boost and buck/boost DC-DC converters,
are widely used in closed-loop feedback control to regulate the bus voltage and enable providing the
DC load demand. These have recently aroused an increasing deal of interest both in power electronics
and in automatic control. This is due to their wide applicability domain that ranges from domestic
equipment to advanced communication systems. They are also used in computers, industrial electronics,
battery-operating portable equipment and uninterruptible power supplies [1].
From an automatic control viewpoint, these closed-loop converters are inherently nonlinear systems.
The major sources of nonlinearity are the switching nonlinearity and interaction among the converter
modules. For a nonlinear converter with some uncertain parameters, assuming the load changes and its
input voltage variations, small-signal analysis is not able to predict the converter steady-state and
transient performances accurately [2]. To solve these problems, over the past decades, some researchers
have proposed different nonlinear control methods such as sliding mode, fuzzy and adaptive controllers
[3–5]. Among the switching control methods, Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), based on fast switching
and duty ratio control may be the most extensively used one. It is worthwhile to mention that the converter
must be stable and robust against the load disturbance, variation in input-voltage and uncertainties that
usually exist in the converter parameters.
Among the DC-DC power converters, buck topology is the simplest one. It is useful when the
supply voltage is high compared with the load voltage requirement. In recent years, a few papers have
been reported about CCM and DCM operations of this converter using nonlinear controllers. The
Sliding-Mode (SM) controller is well-known for stability and good regulation properties in a wide

*Correspondence to: Mahdi Salimi, Department of Electrical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad
University, Tehran, Iran.
†
E-mail: m_salimi@srbiau.ac.ir

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

 ADAPTIVE NONLINEAR CONTROL OF THE BUCK CONVERTERS IN CCM AND DCM 1537

range of operating conditions. It is also deemed to be a better candidate than other nonlinear controllers
for its relative ease of implementation [6]. In particular, the fixed frequency PWM-based SM controllers,
which amplify control signals obtained from SM control technique, are found to be suited for practical
implementation in switching power converters [7].
The time-varying SM controlled converter has some major disadvantages such as variable switching
frequency and large output voltage ripple that prevent its practical application [8,9]. A one-cycle control
scheme is able to restrain input disturbance in a short time, whereas it cannot eliminate the steady-state
error of the output voltage and has poor performance under load variation conditions [10,11].
A fixed frequency PWM-based SM reported in [12] for buck, boost and buck/boost DC-DC converters
is applicable to both CCM and DCM operations. The method described in [12] has been supported only
by computer simulation results. In fact, the sliding controller of [12] uses a SM follow controller; as a
result, it cannot be robust against load changes, input voltage variations and parameter uncertainties.
In [12], it has been shown that when the load changes, a minimum steady-state error still exists in
regulated output voltage. The main drawback of SM method described in [12] is that for DCM operation,
the converter duty cycle must be known and it is obtained based on steady-state analysis of the converter.
In addition, high amount of the SM chattering is seen in the converter output voltage.
In [13], a multi-duty ratio modulation has been described for switching DC-DC buck converters.
This technique achieves output voltage regulation by generating a control pulse train made up of
control pulses with different duty ratios. This controller is based on steady-state analysis of the DC-DC
buck converter in CCM and DCM operations. As a result, it cannot guarantee the controller stability
and robustness against the load disturbances, input voltage variations as well as with subject to converter
parameter uncertainties. In [13], minimum and maximum duty ratios are assumed for the converter CCM
and DCM operations which are obtained based on steady-state analysis of this converter. It should be
noted that during a load disturbance, the duty ratio of the converter is not predictable especially in
DCM operation.
In [14], a fixed frequency robust controller has been developed for parallel DC-DC buck converters
by combining the concepts of integral-variable structure and multiple-sliding surface control. The
multi-surface SM controller of [14] is designed in two parts: first controller is outside of the boundary
layer, and second controller is inside of the boundary layer. For the first one, a smooth hyper surface is
defined which is based on some assumptions that may not be valid in practice. The gains of each
sliding surfaces are obtained by trial and error method. Although it has been said that the stability
of the controller can be proved by Floquet theory or Lyapunov method [15], it has not been shown
in the paper. In [14], although it is mentioned that the design of SM controller is not based on the
converter state averaged models, for designing the SM controller inside of the boundary, the state
averaged model of the converter has been used. Moreover, in [14], the effectiveness of the proposed
controller has been verified only by simulation results. In addition the capability of the converters
DCM operation has not been investigated. It may be noted that the proposed controller generates a
high amount of SM chattering.
In [16], a hybrid control technique has been described for regulating the output voltage of DC-DC
buck converters. This method is based on steady-state analysis of this converter selecting some safety
guards which are the maximum inductor current and output voltage ripple. In [16], switching
frequency is chosen first. Then, using the steady-state analysis, the time interval for each discrete state
corresponding to CCM and DCM operations are obtained based on guard selection problem. Although
this control method is said to be a closed-loop system, it seems that its behavior is like an open-loop
control system. In [16], the switching frequency varies with the load; under high load conditions, the
circuit is pulled into a fixed frequency operating mode. This implies that control method of [16] is
either a fixed frequency or a varying frequency depends on the converter load. As a whole, it can be
said that the results presented in [16] are only valid for a particular operating condition and the stability
of the converter cannot be guaranteed for wide variations of converter load and its input voltage.
An integral type adaptive backstepping control approach has been described in [17] which is in fact
a SM-based controller. In [17], the converter is modeled as a linear-arranged state-space system model
with an adjustable load. The control method of [17] is used to regulate the output voltage of a stand-alone
DC-DC buck converter. The control method described in [17] has steady-state error under a wide range of
input voltage and load changes. Also, it is not robust and stable with respect to converter parameters

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
DOI: 10.1002/etep
1538 M. SALIMI ET AL.

uncertainties. One may note that the nonlinear controller described in [17] needs to measure both the
instantaneous voltage and current of the converter output capacitor. It is not necessary to say that in
DC-DC converters, the capacitor current in fact is the inductor ripple current. Such a feedback current
wave-shape in combination with SM chattering can produce high stress on the converter power switches
as well as decrease the converter efficiency. In addition, from simulation and experimental results
presented in [17], it can be seen that, for a step change in input voltage, no any effect is seen on the
converter voltage at least in the transient state. As a result, these results seem to be slightly dubious.
Moreover, the adaptive nonlinear control approach described in [17] is only useful for CCM operation
of the converter and cannot be applied in DCM.
Based on our research, it was not found any work dealing with adaptive nonlinear control methods,
applied to DC-DC buck converters independent of the operation mode, CCM or DCM.
In this paper, an adaptive nonlinear control method is described for regulating the output-voltage of
DC-DC buck converters using the averaged state-space model of the converter. The proposed control
method is based on adaptive backstepping approach. The mentioned control technique is equally
applicable in both CCM and DCM operations. In DCM operating mode, the duration time in which
the inductor current is zero is assumed to be constant but an unknown parameter similar to other
converter parameters. The capability and effectiveness of the adaptive control approach described in
this paper are supported by simulation and experimental results.

2. AVERAGED STATE-SPACE MODELING OF THE DC-DC BUCK CONVERTER

Assuming the DCM operation of a DC-DC buck converter, referring to Figure 1 and Figure 2, three
different regions can be recognized. Thus, that the state-space model for each region can be derived as:
x ¼ ðiL ; uout Þ ¼ ðx1 ; x2 Þ ðstate variablesÞ (1)
0 1

: 1
 !
x1 B 0  C x1
1
¼@1 L
:
x2 1 A x2 þ L uin when Power Switch is ON (2)
 0
C RC

Power
Switch iL
L
+
uin Power C R uout
Diode
-

Figure 1. DC-DC buck converter including parasitic elements.

Figure 2. Inductor current of a DC-DC converter operating in DCM.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
DOI: 10.1002/etep
 ADAPTIVE NONLINEAR CONTROL OF THE BUCK CONVERTERS IN CCM AND DCM 1539

0 1

: 0 
1


x1 B L C x1 0
: ¼@1 1 A x2 þ 0 uin when Power Switch is OFF and x1 > 0 (3)
x2

C RC

: !


x1 0 0 x1 0
: ¼ 1 þ u when Power Switch is OFF and x1 ¼ 0 (4)
x2 0  x2 0 in
RC
where x1 and x2 denote the inductor current and output capacitor voltage. Combining Equations (2), (3)
and (4), the averaged state-space model of the converter can be derived as following:
: uin
x1 ¼ b1 x2 þ d (5)
L
:
x2 ¼ b2 x1 þ b3 x2 (6)
where d (duty ratio) is the control input of converter and:
ð1  Δ Þ 1 1
b1 ¼  ; b2 ¼ ð1  ΔÞ; b3 ¼  (7)
L C RC
Notice that if in Equation (7), Δ is equated to zero, the converter model (Equations (5) and (6)) can
be used in CCM operation.
If model parameters in Equation (7) are assumed to be certain, the converter model will be linear,
but when any adaptive control approach is applied to estimate system unknown parameters and to
design system control effort, in this case, the model inherently is converted to a nonlinear and even
time-variant system [18,19]. For this reason, in this paper, adaptive backstepping approach will be
applied to buck DC-DC converter.

3. ADAPTIVE BACKSTEPPING CONTROLLER DESIGN

Referring to Equation (7), uncertain parameters can be defined as following:

bi ¼ bin þ Δbi i ¼ 1; 2; 3 (8)
where bin is nominal value of the ith uncertain parameter. According to Equation (8), DC-DC buck
converter model can be rewritten in compact form as:
x_ ¼
F ðxÞþ ΔF ðxÞ þ GðxÞd (9)
where x is defined in Equation (1) and:


 b1n x2
F ðxÞ¼ (10)
b2n x1 þ b3n x2


Δb1 x2
ΔF ðxÞ ¼ (11)
Δb2 x1 þ Δb3 x2
uin !
GðxÞ ¼ L (12)
0
Although, the converter model with certain parameters in Equation (9) is linear, it becomes a pure
nonlinear system with assumption of uncertain parameters. That is because of existing uncertain
lumped function (ΔF(x)) in the system model. Adaptive nonlinear controller is designed for DC-DC
buck converter in both CCM and DCM operating modes in the following steps.

Step 1) defining the change of coordinates as:

z1 ¼ hðxÞ ¼ x2 ¼ vout (13)
z2 ¼ LF hðxÞ
 (14)
¼ f1
where LF hðxÞ is the Lie derivative [20] of a function h(x) along a vector field F :
f2

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
DOI: 10.1002/etep
1540 M. SALIMI ET AL.



@h @h f1
LF hðxÞ ¼ (15)
@x1 @x2 f2
According to Equations (13), (14) and (15), the dynamic model of the DC-DC buck converter is
given in new coordinates by:

:



z1 z2 0 θ1 w1
: ¼ þ d þ (16)
z2 LF2 hðxÞ 1 1 θ2 w1
where:
θ1 ¼ ð Δb2 Δb3 Þ (17)
θ2 ¼ ð b3n Δb2 b3n Δb3 þ b2n Δb1 Þ (18)
T
w1 ¼ ð x1 x2 Þ (19)
 u 
in
d1 ¼ b2n d (20)
L
Considering Equations (17) and (18), Equation (16) is a nonlinear system because θ1 and θ2 are
obtained as a function of converter system states. For this reason, the dynamics are hard to regulate
by a constant state feedback gain. Hence, we propose a nonlinear controller for the system (16) to track
a desired reference model. The reference model is designed in a linear form as:

: 



zm1 0 1 zm1 0
: ¼ þ x ðref Þ (21)
zm2 km1 km2 zm2 km1 2

where x2(ref) is the converter reference voltage, zm1 and zm2 are desired values of new state-variables.
Also, km1 and km2 are design positive constants. Furthermore, the tracking errors between plant and ref-
erence model can be defined as:
e ¼ ð z1  zm1 z2  zm2 Þ ¼ ð e1 e2 Þ
Considering Equations (16) and (21), the system error dynamics are derived as:
: : :
e1 ¼ z1  zm1 ¼ z2 þ θ1 w1  zm2 ¼ e2 þ θ1 w1 (22)
: : :
e2 ¼ z2  zm2 ¼ L2F hðxÞ þ d1 þ θ2 w1 þ km1 zm1 þ km2 zm2  km1 x2 ðref Þ (23)
Equations (22) and (23) in matrix form are given by:

: 



e1 e2 θ1 w1 0 
: ¼ þ þ d (24)
e2 L2F hðxÞ θ 2 w1 1
where:
d ¼ d1 þ km1 zm1 þ km2 zm2  km1 x2 ðref Þ (25)

Step 2) according to backstepping theory, it is clear that in Equation (22), e2 behaves as a virtual
controller. If θ1 is assumed to be certain and V 1 ¼ 12 e21 is selected as a first Lyapunov function, as a
result the virtual controller can be designed as:
ά ¼ k1 e1  θ1 w1 (26)
where k1 is a positive constant. However, θ1 is not certain and e2 is not an actual controller. Considering
the unknown constant parameters for the converter, assuming estimation of converter parameters
defined by θ e i (for i = 1 and 2), Equation (26) should be assumed as following:

a ¼ k1 e1 ^
θ1 w1 ¼ k1 e1 ^
Δb2 x1 ^
Δb3 x2 (27)
where θ^1 is the estimated value of θ1:
f1 ¼ θ1 ^
θ θ1 (28)
Since e2 and a are not necessarily equal, new error variables are defined:
e1 ¼ e1 (29)

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
DOI: 10.1002/etep
 ADAPTIVE NONLINEAR CONTROL OF THE BUCK CONVERTERS IN CCM AND DCM 1541

e2 ¼ e2  a (30)
Considering Equations (24) and (27), derivative of new error variables with respect to time t in
second can be obtained according to Equations (29) and (30):
: :
e1 ¼ e1 ¼ e2 þ θ1 w1 ¼ k1 e1 þ e2 þ θ f1 w (31)
1 :
:
2 ^ e  2 f ^
e2 ¼ LF hðxÞ þ θ2 w1 þ θ2 ’1 þ d  k1 e1 þ k1 e2 þ k1 θ1 w1 þ θ1 w1 (32)

Step 3) choosing the next Lyapunov function as:

1 1 1 e eT 1 e eT
Va ¼ e21 þ e22 þ θ1 θ1 þ θ2 θ2 (33)
2 2 2g1 2g2
where g1 and g2 are positive adaptive gains. According to Equation (33), time derivative of Va can be
obtained as:
: : :
ð Þ ð Þ
: : 1e ^ 1e ^
V a ¼ e1 e1 þe2 e2 þ θ1  θ1 T þ θ 2  θ2 T (34)
g1 g2
Combining Equations (31), (32) and (34) gives:
: :
ð θ2 w1 þ d  k12 e1 þ k1 e2 þ^
Va ¼ k1 e1 2 þ e2 e1 þ L2F hðxÞ þ^ θ 1 w1 Þ
b3n b2n ^ : b2 ^ :
g 
þΔb 1 ð g2
Δb3 2n Δb
g2 1þ b2n x2 e2 Þ
:
^ (35)
Δb b23n ^ :
2 ð
g x1 e1 þ b x1 e2 þ k1 e2 x1 
þΔb 3n
g1
2

g2
Δb2 Þ
:
^
g x2 e1 þ b x2 e2 þ k1 e2 x2  Δb3 b3n Δb
^ b3n b2n ^
2 : :
þΔb3 ð 3n
g1 g2 3
g2
Δb1 Þ
If in Equation (35), it is assumed that:
:
θ2 w1 þ d  k12 e1 þ k1 e2 þ^
e1 þ L2F hðxÞ þ^ θ1 w1 ¼ k2e2 (36)
b3n b2n ^: b22n ^:
 Δb3  Δb1þ b2n x2 e2 ¼ 0 (37)
g2 g2
:
^
Δb b2 :
x1 e1 þ b3n x1 e2 þ k1 e2 x1  2 3n ^
Δb2 ¼ 0 (38)
g1 g2
:
^
Δb3 b23n ^: b b :
x2 e1 þ b3n x2 e2 þ k1 e2 x2   Δb3 3n 2n ^
Δb1¼ 0 (39)
g1 g2 g2
then Equation (35) is reduced to:
:
V a ¼ k1 e1 2  k2 e2 2 (40)
:
Since k1 and k2 are positive constants, then V a ≤0 which is negative semi-definite function and will
f1 and θ
result in stable behavior of the system (i.e. e
1 , e
2 , θ f2 are bounded). To indicate the convergence
of e
1 and e
2 to zero, the following lemma is introduced.
Barbalat’s lemma [21]) if a scalar function V(x, t) satisfies the following conditions:
• V(x,
:
t) is lower bounded
• V: ðx; t Þ is negative semi-definite
• V: ðx; t Þ is uniformly continuous
then V ðx; t Þ ! 0 as t ! 1
To use this lemma, let us check the uniform continuity of V_ a . The derivative of V_ a is
:: : :
V a ¼ 2k1 e1 e1 2k2 e2 e2
: :
With substituting e
1 and e
2 from Equations (31) and (32) in the above equation, since the errors of
::
states and parameters are bounded, V a becomes bounded. Hence, V :a is uniformly continuous.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
DOI: 10.1002/etep
1542 M. SALIMI ET AL.

Application of Barbalat’s lemma indicates that e
1 and e
2 converge to zero as t ! 1 and will result in
asymptotically stable behavior of the system.
Using Equations (36)–(39), the converter adaptive nonlinear controller ( d
), and its parameters
^
estimation rules (Δb i for i = 1 to 3) are obtained as:

d ¼ k2 e2  e1  L2F hðxÞ  b3n^

Δb2 x1  b3n^
Δb3 x2 (41)
: :
b2n^ Δb1 x2 þ k12 e1  k1 e2  Δb ^
2 x1  Δb3
^
x2
^
: g1 g
Δb 1¼  b ðe1 þ k1 e2 Þx1 þ 2 e2 x2 (42)
b2n 3n b2n
: 1
^
Δb2¼   ½e1 þ ðb3n þ k1 Þe2 x1 (43)
b23n
1
g1 þ g2
:
^
Δb3¼ g1 ðe1 þ k1 e2 Þx1 (44)
Since averaged state-space models of the converter in CCM and DCM operations are completely
similar, the adaptive nonlinear controller can stably control DC-DC buck converters in both CCM
and DCM operating modes.

4. SIMULATION AND PRACTICAL RESULTS

Referring to Figure 1, the nominal specifications of a DC-DC buck converter are given in Table I.
Considering (Equations 41)–(44), the DC-DC buck converter is simulated in CCM and DCM
operations using MATLAB/Simulink toolbox.
The proposed adaptive nonlinear controller is practically implemented by using a Texas digital sig-
nal processor (DSP) TMS320F2810. An IL300 voltage isolated sensor and a Hall Effect current sensor
are used to measure the converter output voltage and inductor current. Selecting a sampling frequency
of 260 kHz and a converter switching frequency of 18.5 kHz, in each switching period, it is possible to
sample around 14 points. The processor is fast enough for updating the controller and system para-
meters estimation rules after each sampling. The converter is implemented by a power circuit which
is shown in Figure 3. From this figure, one can see that, the step changes in parameters R and C can
be achieved by switching ON and OFF the power switches Q2 and Q3. Also, additional hardware is
used in order to provide a variable input voltage. The converter state variables are measured and plot-
ted by a 20-MHz PC-based digital oscilloscope. The experimental setup of the converter is shown in
Figure 4. Also in Figure 5, the block diagram of the proposed adaptive nonlinear controller is
illustrated
Simulation and experimental results are obtained for some tests as described as follows:

Test1)
Considering a steady-state operation of the converter with R = 14 Ω, Vin = 20 V, C = 330 mF and L = 470 mH,
the converter output reference voltage is stepped up from Vref = + 10 V to Vref = + 15 V at t = 0.15 s. For this
condition, the obtained simulation result is demonstrated in Figure 6. Also, practical result related to this test is
shown in Figure 7.

Table I. Nominal specifications of the DC-DC buck converter.

1- Input voltage (uin): 20 V
2- Converter inductor (L): 470 mH
3- Output capacitor (C): 330 mF
4- Load resistance (R): 14 Ω
5- Switching frequency (fs): 18.5 kHz

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
DOI: 10.1002/etep
 ADAPTIVE NONLINEAR CONTROL OF THE BUCK CONVERTERS IN CCM AND DCM 1543

Figure 3. DC-DC buck converter power circuit.

Figure 4. Experimental setup.

Figure 5. Block diagram of the proposed adaptive nonlinear controller.

Figure 6. Step response of the proposed controller. At t = 0.15 s, reference voltage is stepped from +10 V to
+15 V.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
DOI: 10.1002/etep
1544 M. SALIMI ET AL.

Output Voltage

Inductor Current

Time Div.: 50ms – Voltage Div.: 5V – Current Div.: 1.5A

Figure 7. Step response of the developed adaptive nonlinear controller (practical).

Test2)
Simulation results shown in Figure 8 are related to DCM operation of the converter with R = 100 Ω
changing to CCM operation at t = 0.125 s with R = 14 Ω and then back to DCM operation at
t = 0.52 s with R = 100 Ω. Practical results are illustrated in Figure 9.

Test3)
In this test, the effect of simultaneous changes in input voltage and load resistance is studied. Converter
input voltage is supplied by the diode rectifier and load resistance is stepped between R = 100 Ω
(DCM operation) and R = 3 Ω (CCM operation). Input voltage, output voltage and inductor current wave-
forms are shown in Figure 10.

Figure 8. Simulation results for step changes in load resistance during transition between CCM and
DCM operations.

Output Voltage

Inductor Current

Time Div.: 20ms – Voltage Div.: 2.5V – Current Div.: 0.75A

Figure 9. Practical results for step changes in load resistance during transition between CCM and DCM
operations.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
DOI: 10.1002/etep
 ADAPTIVE NONLINEAR CONTROL OF THE BUCK CONVERTERS IN CCM AND DCM 1545

Input Voltage Input Voltage

Output Voltage
Inductor Current

Time Div.: 10ms – Voltage Div.: 5V

Time Div.: 10ms – Voltage Div.: 5V Current Div.: 0.75A

Figure 10. Practical results for simultaneous changes in input voltage and load resistance.

Test4)
In this test, the effect of simultaneous changes in input voltage, load resistance and output capacitor is
studied. Again, converter input voltage is supplied by the diode rectifier. Load resistance and output
capacitor are stepped between R = 100 Ω, C = 330 mF (DCM operation) and R = 3 Ω, C = 1330 mF
(CCM operation). Related Simulation results are shown in Figure 11. Also, estimated value of Δb ^
3
is illustrated in Figure 12. Finally, in Figure 13, practical results related to test 4 are demonstrated.
Notice that for different simulation and practical results proposed so far, it is assumed that:

k1 ¼ 20e3; k2 ¼ 3e3; km1 ¼ 100e3; km2 ¼ 10e3 and g1 ¼ g2 ¼ 1e  4:

Figure 11. Effect of simultaneous changes in input voltage, load resistance and output capacitor.

^ in test 4.
Figure 12. Estimated value of Δb3

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. Trans. Electr. Energ. Syst. 2013; 23:1536–1547
DOI: 10.1002/etep
1546 M. SALIMI ET AL.

Output Voltage
Input Voltage

Inductor Current

Time Div.: 10ms – Voltage Div.: 2.5V – Current Div.: 1.5A Time Div.: 10ms – Voltage Div.: 5V

Figure 13. Practical result related to test 4.

5. CONCLUSION

In this paper, the CCM and DCM operations of a DC-DC buck converter has been investigated. A
nonlinear controller has been developed using an adaptive backstepping control approach. Using a
stand-alone TMS320F2810 DSP from Texas instruments, the effectiveness and capability of the
proposed control approach has been verified through simulation and experimental results. From these
results, it has been confirmed that proposed controller is stable and robust with respect to converter
uncertain parameters, load disturbances and input voltage variations.

6. LIST OF SYMBOLS

Ts switching period of power switch

C output capacitor
uin input voltage
bi ith uncertain parameter
x1(iL) inductor current
e1 ; e2 error variables
Va adaptive Lyapunov function
k1, k2 controller positive gains
zm1 , zm2 state-variables in new coordinate
d duty ratio of power switch
R load resistance
L inductor
^
Δbi estimated value of the ith uncertain parameter
x2(uout) output voltage
x2(ref) output voltage reference
km1, km2 design positive constants
g1, g2 adaptive positive gains

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