Analysis of an On-Line Stability Monitoring Approach for DC Microgrid Power Converters

An online approach to evaluate and monitor the stability margins of dc microgrid power converters is presented in this paper. The discussed online stability monitoring technique is based on the Middlebrook's loop-gain measurement technique, adapted to the digitally controlled power converters. In this approach, a perturbation is injected into a specific digital control loop of the converter and after measuring the loop gain, its crossover frequency and phase margin are continuously evaluated and monitored. The complete analytical derivation of the model, as well as detailed design aspects, are reported. In addition, the presence of multiple power converters connected to the same dc bus, all having the stability monitoring unit, is also investigated. An experimental microgrid prototype is implemented and considered to validate the theoretical analysis and simulation results, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the digital implementation of the technique for different control loops. The obtained results confirm the expected performance of the stability monitoring tool in steady-state and transient operating conditions. The proposed method can be extended to generic control loops in power converters operating in dc microgrids

System Identification, Diagnosis, and Built-In Self-Test of High Switching Frequency DC-DC Converters

abstract: Complex electronic systems include multiple power domains and drastically varying dynamic power consumption patterns, requiring the use of multiple power conversion and regulation units. High frequency switching converters have been gaining prominence in the DC-DC converter market due to smaller solution size (higher power density) and higher efficiency. As the filter components become smaller in value and size, they are unfortunately also subject to higher process variations and worse degradation profiles jeopardizing stable operation of the power supply. This dissertation presents techniques to track changes in the dynamic loop characteristics of the DC-DC converters without disturbing the normal mode of operation. A digital pseudo-noise (PN) based stimulus is used to excite the DC-DC system at various circuit nodes to calculate the corresponding closed-loop impulse response. The test signal energy is spread over a wide bandwidth and the signal analysis is achieved by correlating the PN input sequence with the disturbed output generated, thereby accumulating the desired behavior over time. A mixed-signal cross-correlation circuit is used to derive on-chip impulse responses, with smaller memory and lower computational requirement in comparison to a digital correlator approach. Model reference based parametric and non-parametric techniques are discussed to analyze the impulse response results in both time and frequency domain. The proposed techniques can extract open-loop phase margin and closed-loop unity-gain frequency within 5.2% and 4.1% error, respectively, for the load current range of 30-200mA. Converter parameters such as natural frequency (ω_n ), quality factor (Q), and center frequency (ω_c ) can be estimated within 3.6%, 4.7%, and 3.8% error respectively, over load inductance of 4.7-10.3µH, and filter capacitance of 200-400nF. A 5-MHz switching frequency, 5-8.125V input voltage range, voltage-mode controlled DC-DC buck converter is designed for the proposed built-in self-test (BIST) analysis. The converter output voltage range is 3.3-5V and the supported maximum load current is 450mA. The peak efficiency of the converter is 87.93%. The proposed converter is fabricated on a 0.6µm 6-layer-metal Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) technology with a die area of 9mm^2 . The area impact due to the system identification blocks including related I/O structures is 3.8% and they consume 530µA quiescent current during operation.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 201

Adaptive Efficiency Optimization For Digitally Controlled Dc-dc Converters

The design optimization of DC-DC converters requires the optimum selection of several parameters to achieve improved efficiency and performance. Some of these parameters are load dependent, line dependent, components dependent, and/or temperature dependent. Designing such parameters for a specific load, input and output, components, and temperature may improve single design point efficiency but will not result in maximum efficiency at different conditions, and will not guarantee improvement at that design point because of the components, temperature, and operating point variations. The ability of digital controllers to perform sophisticated algorithms makes it easy to apply adaptive control, where system parameters can be adaptively adjusted in response to system behavior in order to achieve better performance and stability. The use of adaptive control for power electronics is first applied with the Adaptive Frequency Optimization (AFO) method, which presents an auto-tuning adaptive digital controller with maximum efficiency point tracking to optimize DC-DC converter switching frequency. The AFO controller adjusts the DC-DC converter switching frequency while tracking the converter minimum input power point, under variable operating conditions, to find the optimum switching frequency that will result in minimum total loss and thus the maximum efficiency. Implementing variable switching frequencies in digital controllers introduces two main issues, namely, limit cycle oscillation and system instability. Dynamic Limit Cycle Algorithms (DLCA) is a dynamic technique tailored to improve system stability and to reduce limit cycle oscillation under variable switching frequency operation. The convergence speed and stability of AFO algorithm is further improved by presenting the analysis and design of a digital controller with adaptive auto-tuning algorithm that has a variable step size to track and detect the optimum switching frequency for a DC-DC converter. The Variable-Step-Size (VSS) algorithm is theoretically analyzed and developed based on buck DC-DC converter loss model and directed towered improving the convergence speed and accuracy of AFO adaptive loop by adjusting the converter switching frequency with variable step size. Finally, the efficiency of DC-DC converters is a function of several variables. Optimizing single variable alone may not result in maximum or global efficiency point. The issue of adjusting more than one variable at the same time is addressed by the Multivariable Adaptive digital Controller (MVAC). The MVAC is an adaptive method that continuously adjusts the DC-DC converter switching frequency and dead-time at the same time, while tracking the converter minimum input power, to find the maximum global efficiency point under variable conditions. In this research work, all adaptive methods were discussed, theoretically analyzed and its digital control algorithm along with experimental implementations were presented

Microprocessor based signal processing techniques for system identification and adaptive control of DC-DC converters

PhD ThesisMany industrial and consumer devices rely on switch mode power converters (SMPCs) to provide a reliable, well regulated, DC power supply. A poorly performing power supply can potentially compromise the characteristic behaviour, efficiency, and operating range of the device. To ensure accurate regulation of the SMPC, optimal control of the power converter output is required. However, SMPC uncertainties such as component variations and load changes will affect the performance of the controller. To compensate for these time varying problems, there is increasing interest in employing real-time adaptive control techniques in SMPC applications. It is important to note that many adaptive controllers constantly tune and adjust their parameters based upon on-line system identification. In the area of system identification and adaptive control, Recursive Least Square (RLS) method provide promising results in terms of fast convergence rate, small prediction error, accurate parametric estimation, and simple adaptive structure. Despite being popular, RLS methods often have limited application in low cost systems, such as SMPCs, due to the computationally heavy calculations demanding significant hardware resources which, in turn, may require a high specification microprocessor to successfully implement. For this reason, this thesis presents research into lower complexity adaptive signal processing and filtering techniques for on-line system identification and control of SMPCs systems. The thesis presents the novel application of a Dichotomous Coordinate Descent (DCD) algorithm for the system identification of a dc-dc buck converter. Two unique applications of the DCD algorithm are proposed; system identification and self-compensation of a dc-dc SMPC. Firstly, specific attention is given to the parameter estimation of dc-dc buck SMPC. It is computationally efficient, and uses an infinite impulse response (IIR) adaptive filter as a plant model. Importantly, the proposed method is able to identify the parameters quickly and accurately; thus offering an efficient hardware solution which is well suited to real-time applications. Secondly, new alternative adaptive schemes that do not depend entirely on estimating the plant parameters is embedded with DCD algorithm. The proposed technique is based on a simple adaptive filter method and uses a one-tap finite impulse response (FIR) prediction error filter (PEF). Experimental and simulation results clearly show the DCD technique can be optimised to achieve comparable performance to classic RLS algorithms. However, it is computationally superior; thus making it an ideal candidate technique for low cost microprocessor based applications.Iraq Ministry of Higher Educatio

Advanced current-mode control techniques for DC-DC power electronic converters

There are many applications for dc-dc power electronic converters in industry. Considering the stringent regulation requirements, control of these converters is a challenging task. Several analog and digital approaches have already been reported in the literature. This work presents new control techniques to improve the dynamic performance of dc-dc converters --Abstract, page iv

Razvoj robusnog diskretnog regulatora za silazni pretvarač s dvostrukom frekvencijom preklapanja

A discrete controller is designed for high efficiency double frequency buck converter. This double frequency buck converter is comprised of two buck cells: one works at high frequency, and another works at low frequency. It operates in a way that current in the high frequency switch is diverted through the low frequency switch. Thus, the converter can operate at very high frequency without adding any additional control circuits. Moreover, the switching loss of the converter remains small. The proposed converter exhibits improved steady -- state and transient response with low switching loss. A digital compensator further improves the dynamic performance of the closed loop system. Simulation of digitally controlled double frequency buck converter is performed with MATLAB / Simulink. Experimental results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the controller using LabVIEW with a Data Acquisition Card (NI - 9221).Dikretni regulator je projektiran za postizanje visoke efikasnosti silaznog pretvarača s dvostrukom frekvencijom preklapanja. Ovaj silazni pretvarač s dvostrukom frekvencijom preklapanja sastoji se od dvaju ćelija: po jedna za rad na visokim i niskim frekvencijama preklapanja. Regulator funkionira tako da se struja preklapanja na visokim frekvencijama preusmjerava kroz prekidač za preklapanje na niskim frekvencijama. Tako pretvarač može funkcionirati na vrlo visokim frekvencijama bez dodatnih upravljačkih krugova. štoviše, gubici prekidanja pretvarača ostaju mali. Prikazani pretvarač pokazuje poboljšanja kod odzivu u ustaljenom stanju te u prijelaznim pojavama uz male gubitke prilikom prekidanja. Digitalni kompenzator nadalje poboljšava dinamičke performanse sustava u zatvorenom krugu. Simulacije digitalno upravljanog silaznog pretvarača s dvostrukom frekvencijom preklapanja su provedene korištenjem MATLAB / Simulink-a. Eksperimentalni rezultati su prikazani kako bi se demonstrirala efikasnost regulatora korištenjem LabVIEW-a i kartice za prikupljanje podataka (NI - 9221)

Digital Pulse Width Modulator Techniques For Dc - Dc Converters

Recent research activities focused on improving the steady-state as well as the dynamic behavior of DC-DC converters for proper system performance, by proposing different design methods and control approaches with growing tendency to using digital implementation over analog practices. Because of the rapid advancement in semiconductors and microprocessor industry, digital control grew in popularity among PWM converters and is taking over analog techniques due to availability of fast speed microprocessors, flexibility and immunity to noise and environmental variations. Furthermore, increased interest in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) makes it a convenient design platform for digitally controlled converters. The objective of this research is to propose new digital control schemes, aiming to improve the steady-state and transient responses of a high switching frequency FPGA-based digitally controlled DC-DC converters. The target is to achieve enhanced performance in terms of tight regulation with minimum power consumption and high efficiency at steady-state, as well as shorter settling time with optimal over- and undershoots during transients. The main task is to develop new and innovative digital PWM techniques in order to achieve: 1. Tight regulation at steady-state: by proposing high resolution DPWM architecture, based on Digital Clock Management (DCM) resources available on FPGA boards. The proposed architecture Window-Masked Segmented Digital Clock Manager-FPGA based Digital Pulse Width Modulator Technique, is designed to achieve high resolution operating at high switching frequencies with minimum power consumption. 2. Enhanced dynamic response: by applying a shift to the basic saw-tooth DPWM signal, in order to benefit from the best linearity and simplest architecture offered by the conventional counter-comparator DPWM. This proposed control scheme will help the compensator reach the steady-state value faster. Dynamically Shifted Ramp Digital Control Technique for Improved Transient Response in DC-DC Converters, is projected to enhance the transient response by dynamically controlling the ramp signal of the DPWM unit