2016 Bienniallnternational Conference on Power and Energy Systems:Towards Sustainable Energy (PESTSE)
Design and Implementation of Sliding Mode Voltage
Controller for DC to DC Bucl< Converter by using
Hysteresis Modulation and Pulse Width Modulation
B.Kiran, P.Parthiban, Debashisha.Jena
Oepartment ofElectrical and Electronics Engineering
NITK, Surathkal
Mangalore, India
kiranbrnr@gmail.com
Abstract-This paper presents the design and implementation
of sliding mode controllaw to the output volta ge control of DC to
DC buck converter. The robustness ofthe sliding mode controller
is tested by chan ging the different circuit components and
comparing the results with conventional linear controller. The
result shows that the sliding mode controller performs better in
the transient condition over a wide range of operation when
compared with linear controller. Sliding mode controllers by
using hysteresis modulation and pulse width modulation are
implemented in MATLAB/simulink. The disadvantages of sliding
mode controller by using hysteresis modulation is overcome by
using pulse width modulation.
Keywords - DC to DC converter; switching jrequency; sliding
mode(SM) controller;hysteresis modulation (HM); pulse width
modulation (PWM).
I. INTRODUCTION
Many electronic devices require different voltage levels for
the operation. The usage of different voltage level batteries is
possible, but it is not preferred. The battery cannot produce a
constant voltage throughout its lifetime, to overcome this
problem a switch mode OC to OC converters are used instead
of batteries. Buck converter is a type of switch mode OC to
OC converter, whose output voltage is less than the input
voltage. The OC to OC converter should provide a constant
output voltage with less ripple percentage. The converter
should be robust against the circuit parameter variations, i.e.
during the output load change and also during the change in
supply voltage the converter should maintain the constant
output voltage. Thus to maintain the constant output voltage,
the closed loop control is necessary[2].The conventionallinear
controllers which are used in OC to OC converters are
designed based on small-signal analysis and they failed
generally to perform during the large parameter or circuit
component variation called large-signal variation[7] [8]. The
peak overshoot and settling time both are high during the large
parameter variation. By replacing the linear controller with
SM controller the transient condition of the converter can be
improved and better performance is achieved for the wide
variation of circuit parameters[4][5]. Hence a lot of attention
is increased towards the application of SM controller in OC to
OC converters[6].
978-1-4673-6658-8/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
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P.S.Prakash
Oepartment ofElectrical and Computer Engineering
University ofMinnesota
Minneapolis, United States
sunprak@gmail.com
The SM control is a type ofnon-linear controller, which is
used in the control ofvariable structure systems (VSS)[1]. The
OC to OC converter is non-linear in nature mainly because of
the semiconductor devices used in the converter and also the
switching action of the converter. Hence the OC to OC
converter is a kind of VSS due to the opening and closing of
the switching action. The linear controllers are still used in
industries, mainly because the SM controller is not available
in the integrated circuit (lC) forms, and also the lack of
systematic design to implement the SM controller for buck
converters[9]. The main advantages of SM controllers for
buck converters are reduced overshoots and undershoots
during the circuit parameter variations, increased robustness
against the large parameter variation and maintains the
converter always in stable state[10][12]. The SM controller is
implemented by hysteresis modulation(HM) and the
disadvantages of SM controller by using HM are high and
variable switching frequency[lO]. The high switching
frequency causes switching losses in the converter and with
the variable switching frequency it is difficult to design the
output and input filter ofthe buck converters. Hence it is more
sensible to maintain the constant switching frequency
throughout the operation ofthe OC to OC converter. There are
three methods in maintaining the constant switching frequency
ofthe converter, one method is to integrate the timing function
into the SM controller and the switching frequency is
maintained constant by controlling the timing function but the
converter shows the decline in transient response. The second
method is adaptive feedback and feedforward implementation
in SM controllers. However, there is no decline in transient
state but implementing both feedback and feedforward paths
to the OC to OC converter is complex and difficult[9]. In this
paper the control signal from the SM controller is compared
with the continuous ramp signal like the PWM method. The
switching frequency is maintained constant and the
deterioration in transient response is absent[ll].
11. MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF OC TO OC BUCK
CONVERTER
This section involves the state space modelling of the
buck converter. The buck converter along with the SM
controller is show in Fig.l.
 L
1/=0

iR + ~
,
N

o R,
R, .~
",1 q"
i T. = 0

g
~

Q) Vrej
Q)
bJ)

Sliding Mode E
"0
Controller >

Fig. 1. Buck converter with SM controller

The buck converter is working in continuous conduction
mode(CCM) and the control parameters are the difference of
output voltage and voltage reference i.e. output voltage error
and rate of change of it. The control parameters can be
expressed as-
(I)
Where T-jn , Vrej and ßVo are the input, reference and sensed
output voltage, respectively. R, Land C are the load
resistance, inductance and capacitance ,respectively ofthe DC
to DC buck converter. u denotes the value of the switch
Sw whose value is either 0 or 1. The state space modelling of
the converter can be obtained as
Voltage error XI (V)
Fig. 3. phase trajectories ofthe substructure when u=O [10]
The separate substructures of DC to DC buck converter
for the different values of the switch (u =0 or 1) and also for
the different starting conditions are shown in Fig.2, Fig.3. The
phase trajectories of the control parameter are represented in a
phase plane. Whenever the switch is ON(u=l) the phase
trajectories will attract towards the balanced pointe Vrej- ßVo)
and when the switch is OFF(u =0) the phase trajectories will
attract towards the other balanced pointe Vrej)' These features
are helpful in the design ofthe SM controller.
111. DESIGN OF THE SLiDING MODE VOLTAGE CONTROLLER
The fundamental concept of SM controllaw is to propose a
sliding surface in its control law, so that the phase trajectories
of the control parameters are directed towards the sliding

r °l° - [0 l' rl + [0LC1 + [0:

xI _ xI
__ 1_ __1_ -ßV;n U Vrej (2) surface and converged to the equilibrium point. The control
x2 LC RLC x2 LC parameters are used to find the switching value U by using the
switching function
(3)

Where /Xl and /X2 are the sliding coefficients to be designed and
XI , X2 are the control parameters. By making the S =0, the
u
.~ sliding surface can be formed as shown in FigA, The
"0 switching value(u=O orl) is obtained by the following function
~~___V,~4~-~ß_V~ill____~__-7~~____~____~~__~
r 1
u = -(1 + sign(S)) (4)
~ 2
>
Where u is the switch value of the buck converter . The entire
SM controllaw is divided into three parts.
V oltage error Xl (V)
I. Hitting condition
2. Existing condition
Fig.2. phase trajectories ofthe substructure when u=l. [10]
3. Stability condition

All the three conditions are discussed brietly In the next

section.

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 A. Hitting condition
The phase plane represents the dynamic state of the
converter by taking output voltage error(difference of output
voltage and voltage reference) as x-axis and rate of change of
output voltage error as y-axis as shown in FigA, The sliding
surface divides the phase plane into two regions, Region I
represents the part of the plane where S > 0 and Region 11
represents s< 0 as shown in FigA.
Initial conditions of the
11
trajectories having
ajxj +a2x2 >0
Sliding plane Re g io.n__
,/~
Initial conditions ofthe// ___ .------
trajectories having~'
ajxj +a2x2 <0
Region II
----------------------------~~------~Xl
Fig. 4. The graphical representation ofthe controlled phase trajectories
converging towards the s!iding plane from different initial points. [9]
In this paper the output voltage of the buck converter is
controlled, hence the equation of the sliding surface contains
the states of the DC to DC buck converter, which are shown
in(2). The state Xl is the main state in the sliding surface hence,
if the sensed output voltage of buck converter is more than the
reference voltage then S is negative, and the converter switch
should be OFF. Similarly if the sensed output voltage is less
than the reference voltage then S is positive and the converter
switch should be ON. This switching action is done by the
controllaw, the phase trajectories which are lying on the both
sides ofthe sliding surface are attracted towards it because the
equilibrium point of one substructure is present in the other
substructure and this forms the reach ability condition.
B. Existing condition
After reaching the sliding surface, the phase trajectories are
not confrrmed to maintain the track on the sliding surface.
Hence to maintain the track on the sliding surface the
existence condition should be satisfied. The existence
condition is derived from the Lyapunov's second method,
which is given as
!im s.s <0
s-,>ü
The time derivation of the sliding line equation for the
existence condition becomes
S =.?y For o<s<o
S =,12 For -o<S<O
Where 0 is the small positive quantity. By further substituting
(2) and (3) in (5) the equations will become
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(7)
The equations .?y = 0 and ,12 = 0 represents the two straight
lines in the phase plane, passing tlrrough the points
( vref - ßV;n ,0) and (vref ,0) respectively as shown in Fig.5, and
Fig.6, The existence region varies as the sliding co-efficient
varies. The existence region for two different condition i.e.
when al > 1 / R1.C and when al < 1 / R1.C are shown in Fig.5, and
Fig.6, respectively. The value al increases, the time constant
decreases by making the existence region between A and B in
Fig.5, becomes small and response will have the overshoot
and transients. Similarly if al decreases the existence region
between A and B in Fig.6, becomes large but the time constant
increases, hence the response becomes slow. Therefore the
selection of al should satisfy both the existence region and
time constant of the response.
C. Stability condition
The sliding coefficient which are used in the design of
existence condition, should also obey the stability condition.
This makes the phase trajectories, not only to attract towards
the sliding surface but also converge them to the equilibrium.
The system dynamical property can be obtained by
(8)
The suitable choice of the sliding coefficient will make the
system stable. The sliding coefficients are designed for
different responses such as under damped, critically damped
and over damped of the controlled states. Hence the designer
can select the sliding coefficients based on the required
overshoot of the responses.
IV. SIMULA nON OF THE PROPOSED CONTROLLERS
In this research work the closed loop control of DC to DC
converter is carried out by using different controllers. The
performance of the converter is compared by using
conventional PID controller. SM controller by using HM and
PWM are implemented in MA TLAB/simulink environment.
(5) Fig.l, shows the schematic diagram of the OC to OC buck
converter with HM based SM controller in the feedback path.
The equations (3),(4) are implemented in the feedback path of
the converter and the control signal is passed tlrrough the
hysteresis modulation block, which produces the switching
(6) pulses. The produced switching pulses are given to the
converter switch.
 A. Load variation
The load of the buck converter is varied from 100 to 200
at 0.05 seconds. The performance of the buck converter by
using different controllers like conventional PID controllers,
Region 11 SM controller by HM and SM controller by PWM are
A2 >0
compared in Fig.7, Fig.8, Fig.9, respectively.
8<0

-:- ---:r- -~ ---~ ---~ ---:- ---:- ---:- --

x,
"c----,--___,--_,___-__.--,__----,--,------,--___,------,
Region T
Al < 0
~:: rr-1""~
S>O ~ 10 - - -1- ___ 1___ ~ ___ --1 ___ 1.. _ _ _ L ___ 1_ _ _ _ 1_ _ _ _1 __ _

11 - - -1- - - -1- - - I - - - I - - - T - - - I - - -1- - - -1- - - -1- - -

Time(,)

; ':I~- -1- - - -1- - - ~ .* -

- J - - - t---~ ---:- ---:- ---: ---
I
l!. I I I 1.2A I I I I I

~05 ---:----:---~---~---T I -y_

O.6A
I
I
I

Fig. 5. The region of existence of SM controller for the condition

CXj>1IR/p [10] Time(,)

Fig. 7. The output voltage and current ofthe buck converter during load
change from 100 to 20 0 at 0.05 seonds for PID controller.
v, =0
"c----,--___,---~-___,--_,___-__.--,__-___,--,----~

'IV 1

~
Region 11 ~LI0 - - -1- - - -1- - - -1- - - --i - - - -t - - - t- - - - r- - - -1- - - -1- - -
--12 >0 ;;
S<O
s=o ~L--~O.O~,-~O.O~2-~O.O~3--0~.O~,-~O~.05~-~OL.06~~O.~Olc-~O.L08-~O.O~9-~O.'
Time(s)

1. 5 c----,--___,--_,___-__.--,__----,--,------,--,----,

- - -:- - - -:- - - -: -11A- ~ - - -1- --~ ---~ ---:- ---:- --

I I I I

---1----1----1-----1---+ +- olA ~ 1 1

~L---~O.O-1--~O.O-2--~O.O-3---0~.O-,---O~.05----0L.06~~O.L01----O.L"'----O.OL9--~O.1
s>o Time(s)

Fig. 8. The output voltage and current ofthe buck converter during load
change trom 10 0 to 20 0 at 0.05 seonds for HM based SM controller.

15c---,------,---c=-,--_,___---,--,------,-----,--_,___-----,
I I ~I I I I I I I

~KlO ___ 1_ _ _ _ 1 ___ -.1 ___ 1.- ___ L ___ 1_ _ _ _ 1___ -.1 ___ 1.- __ _
Fig. 6. The region of existence of SM controller for the condition Ö
;;..

CXj < 11 RLC .[10] 50~--~O.O~1---0~.O~2--~O~.ID~~O~.04c-~O.~05--~O.O~6---0~.O~1--~O~.O,~~O~.09c-~O.1

Time(s)

The DC to DC buck converter which is shown in Fig.l, has

the circuit parameters, which are mentioned in the Table I.

TABLE I.
Buck converter parameter specification Fig. 9. The output voltage and current of the buck converter during load
change from 100 to 20 0 at 0.05 seonds for PWM based SM controller.
Category Notation Value
Input voltage V;n 24V
B. Voltage reference variation
Inductance L 10fJH
The reference voltage in the feedback path of the converter
Capacitance C 100fJF is changed from 12 V to 14 V at 0.05 seconds. The change in
Load resistance RL 100 output voltage and current by using PID controller, SM
controller by HM and SM controller by PWM are shown in
Fig.lO, Fig.ll, Fig.12, respectively.
In the PWM based SM control law, the control signal from
the controller is implemented from the equations (3), (4) is
passed through the PWM block. Inside the PWM block the
control signal is equated with the ramp signal to produce the
constant switching pulses. The simulation results for variation
in different circuit parameters are discussed below.

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 ____~II__ILtV_:~__~II____/I,__-t:____~II~~4V--i:----T'--~ SM controller by PWM instead of conventional linear PID
20~-~-~-~--~-~-___'_-----'---'----'---1-----'

E f\,-~: controller. The overshoots during the change in load and

~LI0 - - -1- - - -I - - - I - - - i - - - r- - - I
.:; I reference are absent in HM based SM controller. However the
>
0
percentage overshoot during the load change is 10% and l.6%
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
Timc(s)
0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
by using the PID controller and PWM based SM controller
2
I I I I I I I I I respectively. The settling time and tracking time of output
., f\ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
voltage is less by using non-linear controllers like HM and
i
U
1
- - -1- - - -1- - - ,
1
t
1.2A
T
1
C!A: 1 PWM based SM controller compared with linear PID
controller.
°OL--'~I.UC-,----O.L
O,-----"tl.!::-'3----O-'-JI4:-----c'O.(:-:-)5----''''I,U6:-----;:O.::c0
7 --,:C:l.OS:c----;;O.:O09--::0.1
Time(s)
The main disadvantage of HM based SM controller
Fig. 10. The output voltage and current of the buck converter during voltage compared with linear PID controller is switching frequency
reference change from 12 V to 14 V at 0.05 seonds for PlD controller. variation during load changes. Hence, with the variation in
switching frequency of the buck converter it is difficult to
design the output and input filters of the DC to DC
converters. The variation of switching frequency in HM based
SM control law is overcomed by using PWM based SM
°O·L-~0.0::-1----O~.02:-----;;0.L.03-~0.0;-;-4----O~.0-;-5----0.;;:;.06-~0.0;;;-7----O~.O;;-,----07.0,09:------;;0.1
control. In PWM based SM controllaw the control signal from
Timc(s) the controller is passed through the comparator block, where
1.5~:::::..;:::::::;:::;:::::.:.::::::r==T=r:=~~ the control signal is equated with the ramp waveform to
~ I - - -1- - - -1- - - -1-1- - -1- - - -4 - - - ~ -)4A ~ - - - ~ - - - ~ - -- produce the constant switching pulses.
1: I I I I.2A I I I I I I
~O.5 - - -1- - - -1- _ _ _ 1_ _ _ _1 _ _ _ ---J _ _ _ ~ _ _ _ -l- _ _ _ ~ _ _ _ l- - --
U 1
The variation of switching frequency during load changes
°0L--0~.0-1--0-'-.02--0.L03-~0.0-4--0-'-.05-~0.L06-~0.0::-7--0-'-.08~---;:0.L.09-~0.1 of buck converter by using SM controller by HM and also SM
Timc(S)
controller by PWM in feedback path are shown in Fig.13. The
Fig. 11. The output voltage and current of the buck converter during voltage switching frequency varies in between 625kHz to 138 kHz for
reference change from 12 V to 14 V at 0.05 seonds for HM based SM HM based SM controller where as for PWM based SM
controller.
controller the switching frequency is constant 50kHz.
700~-~--___,_----,-----,-----,----.------,----,

151,.:=:.I:=:::I=~==:;':::=J=~,=rtTI==~,==;"= ,
~IO - - -:- - - -: - - jv~ - - - ~ - - - ~ - - - ~ --nv--:- - - -: - - - ~ - - - __ ~

1
____ L ____ L ___
1 1
~

1
____ ~

1
____ L __ _
1
~ 5 - - -1- - - -1- - - ---J - - - -+ - - - +- - - - f- - - -1- - - -1- - - ---J - - - - -
1

-1- - - -1- - - - r - - - -1- - - - -1- - - -1- - - - r - --

> 1

1 1
00
0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
Time(s)
0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1 '~400
"
1.5·~:::::";:::::::;:::;:::::':'::::::~~~TI ~300
~ 1 - - -1- - - -1- - - -4 -.'~- - -+ - - - + - - - ~ -l~iC:- - - -: - - - ~- - - ~

200 - - - _1 __

~ 0.5 _ _ _ :_ _ _ _ : _ _ _ ~ ~.2~ _ ~ ___ ~ ___ ~ _ _ _ :_ _ _ _ : _ _ _ ~ __ _

1 1 1
U 1 100 - - - -1- - - - " 1 - - - - 1 - - - -1- - - - -1- - - - 1 - - - - r - - -

0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
-------+---------+--------1--------1--------+--------1--------1--------
Timc(S) ~LO----~30----~40-----5LO----~60----~70-----"LO----~90:----~100
Resistance(ohm)
Fig. 12. The output voltage and current of the buck converter during voltage
reference change from 12 V to 14 V at 0.05 seonds for PWM based SM Fig. 13. switching ffequency of buck converter during load change by using
controller. HM and PWM based SM controller.

TABLE 11. V. CONCLUSION

The non-linear controllers like SM controller by HM and
Buck converter performance comparision during load and SM controller by PWM are simulated for DC to DC buck
reference change by using different controllers
converter. The linear controller like PID controller is also
simulated. By using non-linear controller the output voltage
Tracking time Settling settling time is less and also transient overshoots are absent
Peak
Controller type (ms) time
overshoot during load and voltage reference variation compared to linear
(ms)
v"ef :12V ---t 14V controller. Hence, by using non-linear controller the converter
is stable for large load variation. The drawback of HM based
PID controller 23.41% 5 10.5
SM controller for buck converter is variation in switching
HMbased SM
0% I 1.5
frequency during load change, which is solved by using PWM
controller based SM controller.
PWMbased SM
0% 1.1 1.6
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