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Modeling, Analysis, and Application of Buck Converters in Discontinuous-Input-Voltage Mode Operation

Y. S. Lee, S. J. Wang, and S. Y. R. Hui, Senior Member, IEEE
Abstract By adding a suitable LC lter to the input of a Buck converter, it is possible to force the converter into discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation. A Buck converter in this mode of operation has useful properties such as power factor correction and soft turn-off switching. The operation, modeling, low-frequency behavior, and application of the converter are studied. Experimental results verifying the theoretical predictions are also presented. Index Terms Buck converter in discontinuous-capacitor-voltage mode operation, Buck converter in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation, discontinuous-capacitorvoltage mode operation of converters, discontinuous-inputvoltage mode operation of converters, power factor correction using Buck converter, power factor correction using converters in discontinuous-capacitor-voltage mode operation, power factor correction using converters in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation.

(a)

I. INTRODUCTION UE TO THE need to satisfy various regulatory requirements such as IEC1000-3-2 or IEEE519, intensive research has been carried out to improve the power factor of power converters [1][4]. Among other approaches, it has been reported that by adding a suitable LC lter to the input of a Buck converter, the converter can also be operated as a power factor correction (PFC) circuit [5], [6]. An example of the circuit is shown in Fig. 1(a), where the input lter and a small capacitance . consists of a large inductance A detailed examination of the circuit shows that the converter actually enters discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation. In [which is this mode of operation, the ripple component in dened in Fig. 1(a) and shown in Fig. 1(b)] is so large that becomes zero for part of the switching cycle. From waveform shown in Fig. 1(b), the following can be deduced. 1) For each switching cycle, the energy delivered to output is given by Energy (per switching cycle) where is the peak voltage of . (1) 2) The input power to the converter, , is given by (2) or (3)

(b)

(c) Fig. 1. Buck converter in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation and idealized voltage waveforms.

Manuscript received December 6, 1995; revised August 12, 1996. This work was supported by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Y. S. Lee and S. J. Wang are with the Department of Electronic Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. S. Y. R. Hui is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Sydney, N.S.W. 2006, Australia. Publisher Item Identier S 0885-8993(97)01842-5.

08858993/97$10.00 1997 IEEE

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is the switching period of the converter, and . If the factor in (3) is made constant, the power factor of the converter circuit will be equal to one because the input circuit of the converter then behaves as a linear resistance with the value of [as derived from (3)] (4) In the design of a Buck converter (in discontinuous-inputvoltage mode operation) for PFC applications, a major objecis sufciently constant. tive is to ensure that the parameter In Section II of this paper, a low-frequency behavior model of the Buck converter (in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation) will be developed. Based on this model, the important characteristics of the converter and the conditions for good power factor correction will be studied in Section III. The experimental verication will be given in Section IV. II. LOW-FREQUENCY BEHAVIOR MODEL In this section, a low-frequency behavior model of the Buck converter will be developed for discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation. The model is then further extended to cover continuous-input-voltage mode operation. A. Discontinuous-Input-Voltage Mode Model The minimum separable switching conguration (MISSCO) approach of modeling is used here [7][9]. The steps involved in the modeling process are the following. 1) Identication of the MISSCO. The MISSCO is effectively the minimum switching circuitry that can be represented by an identiable lowfrequency equivalent circuit. Using the method introduced in [7][9], the MISSCO for discontinuous-inputvoltage mode operation can be identied as shown in Fig. 1(a). The signicance of this MISSCO is that in the modeling process we need to nd a low-frequency equivalent circuit only for the MISSCO. Other compoand nents of the converter (including ) can then be added to the low-frequency equivalent circuit of the MISSCO to complete the modeling process. 2) Derivation of the low-frequency equivalent circuit of the MISSCO. and are constant current sources By assuming that and , the waveforms of and can be plotted as shown in Fig. 1(b) and (c). (Here we have also assumed is continuous.) Then, the that the inductor current in and , denoted as and in average values of Fig. 2, respectively, can be determined as (5) (6) Note that, during continuous-input-voltage mode operation, and are (10) will automatically reduce to (9) because because only (10) then equal. We choose (10) to model

where

Fig. 2. Low-frequency behavior model of Buck converter in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation.

where

is the switching period of the converter and (7)

The low-frequency equivalent circuit of the MISSCO, as implied by (5) and (6), is shown in Fig. 2. It should be noted that the low-frequency behavior model in Fig. 2 is valid only for discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation. A complete model valid for both discontinuous and continuous modes will be developed in the following sub-section. B. Complete Model for the discontinuous, Referring to the waveforms of critical and continuous modes of operation shown in Fig. 3, it can be found that the major difference between continuous and in discontinuous modes is the addition of a dc component is generated by continuous mode. This additional voltage the circuit model shown in Fig. 4(c). The equivalent circuits of the converter for continuous-input-voltage mode operation, shown in Fig. 4(a) and (b), can be used to explain how this model is derived. (It is assumed that the inductor current in is continuous.) From there it is found that the average current is given by entering into (8) (9) Fig. 4(c) is effectively a circuit to model (9) (for continuousinput-voltage mode operation). However, in order to extend the validity of the model to cover both continuous and discontinuous modes, a more sophisticated expression for , as shown below in (10), will be used in the actual model of Fig. 4(d): (10)

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(a)

(a)

(b) (b)

(c) (c) Fig. 3. Waveforms of v1 for: (a) discontinuous, (b) critical, and (c) continuous modes.

is valid for both continuous and discontinuous modes, as explained below. For discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation, we have from (7) (11) Therefore [as derived from (10) and (11)] [assuming zero initial charge in ]. for discontinuous-inputThis ts the requirement of voltage mode operation. When the dc component is included in the model shown in Fig. 2, a new model valid for both discontinuous and continuous modes can be obtained as shown in Fig. 5. Regarding this model, the following should be noted. appears in the output circuit only 1) Since the dc voltage in each switching cycle, it contributes for to the output voltage. ( is equal to only for continuous-input-voltage mode operation.) resistance across is for the purpose of 2) The 1avoiding a oating node during PSpice simulation. III. IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS APPLICATION AS PFC CIRCUIT
(d) Fig. 4. Modeling the dc component of v1 .

AND

Based on the low-frequency behavior models of the Buck converter shown in Figs. 2 and 5, some important characteristics of the converter will be derived here. A. Relationship Between Output Voltage and Duty Cycle at Steady State Refer to the low-frequency behavior model for discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation shown in Fig. 2. During the steady state of discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation, we have

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should be made equal to . Under this condition the converter enters continuous-input-voltage mode operation. By substituting (20) into (15) and then simplifying the resultant expression (see proof in Appendix A), we have (for discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation)

for

(21)

For continuous-input-voltage mode operation, we have (referring to Fig. 5)

[from (5)] [from (6)]

(22)
Fig. 5. Complete low-frequency behavior model.

(23) (12) The ratio between (22) and (23) gives the following expression for continuous-input-voltage mode operation: for (24) larger than , it will simply Note that if (21) gives a imply that the converter has entered continuous-input-voltage mode operation. Under this condition, the small capacitance is no longer able to limit the input power to the converter (as it is for a and (24) is the only valid expression for normal Buck converter).

(13) (14) Combining of (12) and (13) gives (15) By substituting (14) into (7), we have (16)

B. Frequency-Response Characteristics of Transfer Functions for Discontinuous-Input-Voltage Mode Operation (17) Further substitution of (17) into (13) gives (18) (19) Therefore and transfer funcTo nd the tions, we now introduce small ac perturbations into (25)(27): (28) (29) From the low-frequency behavior model of Buck converter for discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation, shown in Fig. 2, we have (25) (26) (27)

for

(20)

Note that the value of should be smaller than, or equal to, . If (20) gives greater than , the actual value of

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(30)

On the other hand, we also have from (5)(7)

(31)

(32)

Fig. 6. Experimental Buck converter in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation.

(33) By substituting (33) into (31) and (32), we get

(34)

(35) Further substitution of (34), (35) into (28) and (29) gives for

C. Conditions for Good Power Factor Correction (36) Now we consider the conditions for good power factor in correction. From Fig. 2, it is obvious that the voltage the input circuit actually represents a resistance of (40) If , which is a function of and (and thus a function of and ), is made small compared with ( ), we have (41) (38) , we get the small-signal transfer By assuming and the duty cycle function between the output voltage (see also Appendix B for the proof): which is a constant for a given , indicating a unity power factor. [Note: A comparison between (4) and (41) shows that .] the factor in (4) is then equal to The conditions for good power factor correction can thus be summarized as the following. ) is large compared with (or at least compa1) ( rable) at the ac mains frequency is small 2) The reactance of compared with , but large enough to smooth out the ripples at the switching frequency of the converter. 3) Within a large percentage of the period of the ac mains, the amplitude of the rectied mains voltage is larger . than

(37) in (36) and (37), we get the smallBy assuming and signal transfer function between the output voltage (see Appendix B for the proof): the input voltage

(39) where

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Fig. 7. Steady-state relationship between output voltage VO and duty cycle D . (x: measured data.)

Fig. 8. VO (s)=D (s) characteristic for discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation at D = 0:345. (x: measured data; *: measured phase angle.)

An important characteristic of the Buck PFC converter (in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation) is the low turnoff loss of the electronic switch SW [shown in Fig. 1(a)]. , which slows down the This is due to the presence of across SW when it is being turned off, rise of voltage resulting in soft turn-off switching [10]. The slow rise of can be easily observed in the waveform shown in Fig. 1(b), . at The main disadvantage of the Buck PFC converter (in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation) is the relatively

large peak voltage stress of the semiconductor devices. This in Fig. 1(b). Since the average peak voltage is shown as must be equal to , we have, also from Fig. 1(b), value of (42) Thus, (43)

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Fig. 9. VO (s)=Vi (s) characteristic for discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation at D = 0:345. (x: measured gain; *: measured phase angle.)

Fig. 10.

Experimental PFC circuit.

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Fig. 12. Measured waveform of v1 . (a)

H H F H S The experimental results, together with computer simulations where appropriate, are given in Figs. 79. Fig. 7 shows the steady-state relationship between and the duty cycle . It is the output voltage observed that the converter enters continuous-input. Fig. 8 shows voltage mode operation when the frequency-response characteristic of the smallsignal transfer function between the output voltage and the duty cycle , at (for discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation). Fig. 9 shows the small-signal relationship and the input voltage between the output voltage , at (also for discontinuousinput-voltage mode operation). The experimental data shown in Figs. 79 agree reasonably well with PSpice simulations. In order to demonstrate the practical performance of the Buck converter (in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation) as a PFC circuit, an ac source ( Hz) with a bridge rectier is connected to the input of the converter. The detailed circuit and the components used are shown in Fig. 10. The simulation and measured waveforms for s, and are shown in Fig. 11(a) and (b), respectively. The measured waveforms agree well with simulations. The measured conversion efciency of the converter is 80% for an output of 37.3 W at 10.8 V. The efciency is slightly lower than that of a normal Buck converter because of the following reasons.

(b) Fig. 11. (a) Simulated and (b) measured waveforms of PFC circuit.

Because of the large voltage stress but low turn-off loss, IGBTs (which have high voltage rating but large turn-off loss compared with MOSFETs) are suitable candidates for the electronic switch SW. IV. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS In order to verify the low-frequency behavior model of the Buck converter (in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation) developed in Section II and its capability to function as a PFC circuit, an experimental circuit, as shown in Fig. 6, has been built. The detailed parameters of the circuit are as follows: V

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1) There are losses in the input lter ( and ). 2) Due to the higher voltage stress, the semiconductors used need to have a higher voltage rating, resulting in higher internal resistance. The detailed switching waveform of , when the ac source reaches its peak value of 50 V, is shown in Fig. 12. This waveform conrms that the Buck converter is in discontinuousinput-voltage mode operation. V. CONCLUSIONS The operation and characteristics of Buck converters in discontinuous-input-voltage mode operation have been studied. It is found that these converters possess interesting properties such as inherent power factor correction and low turnoff switching loss. A low-frequency behavior model of the converter has been developed and veried. An experimental PFC circuit employing a Buck converter in discontinuousinput-voltage mode operation has also been built to conrm its application. APPENDIX A Derivation of (21): Substitution of (20) into (15) gives (A1) and (A2), shown at the bottom of the page. Multiplying both numerator and denominator of (A2) by

gives (A3)(A6), shown at the bottom of the page. Equation (A6) is the same as (21).

APPENDIX B Derivation of (38) and (39): From (37), we have

(B1) Substitution of (B1) into (36) gives

(B2)

(A1)

(A2)

(A3)

(A4)

(A5)

for

(A6)

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From (30), we have (B3) Substitution of (B3) into (B2) gives (B4) and (B5), shown at , we have (B6) and the bottom of the page. Making , (B7), shown on the bottom of the page. Making we have (B8), shown on the bottom of the page. From (12), we have (B9) Substitution of (B9) into (B8) gives

where

for (B10) Equations (B7) and (B10) are the same as (38) and (39).

(B4)

(B5)

(B6)

(B7)

(B8)

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REFERENCES
[1] E. X. Yang, Y. Jiang, G. C. Hua, and F. C. Lee, Isolated boost circuit for power factor correction, in IEEE APEC 93 Rec., pp. 196203. [2] V. Vlatkovic, D. Borojevic, and F. C. Lee, Input lter design for power factor correction circuits, in IECON 93 Rec., vol. 2, pp. 954958. [3] W. Tang, Y. Jiang, G. C. Hua, F. C. Lee, and I. Cohen, Power factor correction with yback converter employing charge control, in APEC 93 Rec., pp. 293298. [4] D.-S. Chen and J.-S. Lai, A study of power correction boost converter operating at CCM-DCM mode, in Proc. IEEE Southeastcon 93, pp. 613. [5] E. Ismail and R. W. Erickson, A single transistor three-phase resonant switch for high quality rectication, in IEEE PESC92 Rec., pp. 13411351. [6] K. W. E. Cheng and S. Y. R. Hui, Zero-switching low output voltage power factor correction circuits, in IEEE PESC95 Rec., pp. 920925. [7] Y. S. Lee, A systematic and unied approach to modeling switches in switch-mode power supplies, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. IE-32, pp. 445448, Nov. 1985. [8] Y. S. Lee, Computer-Aided Analysis and Design of Switch-Mode Power Supplies. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1993, ch. 2. [9] C. K. Tse, Y. S. Lee, and W. C. So, An approach to modeling DC-DC converters using graph theoretic concepts, Int. J. Circ. Theory, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 371384, July 1993. [10] F. C. Lee, Ed., High-frequency resonant and soft-switching PWM converters, in VPEC Publication Series, Virginia Power Electronics Center, 1991.

S. J. Wang received the B.Sc. degree from the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications, China, in 1990. After graduation, she was appointed as a Lecturer in telecommunications at the Guang Dong Technical School of Post and Telecommunications. Currently, she is an MPhil student in Department of Electronic Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests include design of switch-mode power supplies, computer-aided design of analog circuits, and software engineering.

Y. S. Lee received the M.Sc. degree from the University of Southampton, U.K., and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Hong Kong in 1974 and 1988, respectively. He was with Cable & Wireless, Rediffusion Television, and General Post Ofce, all in Hong Kong, respectively, before joining The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in December 1969 as a Member of the Academic Staff. Currently, he is a Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering. He is the author of the book Computer-Aided Analysis and Design of Switch-Mode Power Supplies (New York: Marcel Dekker, 1993), and his research interests include design of switch-mode power supplies and computer-aided design of analog circuits. Dr. Lee is a fellow of both IEE (U.K.) and HKIE.

S. Y. R. (Ron) Hui was born in Hong Kong in 1961. He received the B.Sc. (Hons) degree at the University of Birmingham, U.K., in 1984, and the DIC and Ph.D. degrees from Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, in 1987. He was appointed as a Lecturer in Power Electronics by the University of Nottingham, U.K., in 1987. In 1990, he went to Australia and took up a lectureship at the University of Technology, where he became a Senior Lecturer in 1991. In January 1993, he joined the University of Sydney, where he is a Reader of Electrical Engineering and Director of Power Electronics and Drive Research Group. Presently, he is also a Professor of Electronic Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong. His current research interests include all aspects of power electronics. In 1991, Dr. Hui was the recipient of the Australian Research Fellowship (Industry). He is a fellow of IEAust.