Efficient and Robust Simulation, Modeling and Characterization of IC Power Delivery Circuits

As the Moore’s Law continues to drive IC technology, power delivery has become one of the most difficult design challenges. Two of the major components in power delivery are DC-DC converters and power distribution networks, both of which are time-consuming to simulate and characterize using traditional approaches. In this dissertation, we propose a complete set of solutions to efficiently analyze DC-DC converters and power distribution networks by finding a perfect balance between efficiency and accuracy. To tackle the problem, we first present a novel envelope following method based on a numerically robust time-delayed phase condition to track the envelopes of circuit states under a varying switching frequency. By adopting three fast simulation techniques, our proposed method achieves higher speedup without comprising the accuracy of the results. The robustness and efficiency of the proposed method are demonstrated using several DCDC converter and oscillator circuits modeled using the industrial standard BSIM4 transistor models. A significant runtime speedup of up to 30X with respect to the conventional transient analysis is achieved for several DC-DC converters with strong nonlinear switching characteristics. We then take another approach, average modeling, to enhance the efficiency of analyzing DC-DC converters. We proposed a multi-harmonic model that not only predicts the DC response but also captures the harmonics of arbitrary degrees. The proposed full-order model retains the inductor current as a state variable and accurately captures the circuit dynamics even in the transient state. Furthermore, by continuously monitoring state variables, our model seamlessly transitions between continuous conduction mode and discontinuous conduction mode. The proposed model, when tested with a system decoupling technique, obtains up to 10X runtime speedups over transistor-level simulations with a maximum output voltage error that never exceeds 4%. Based on the multi-harmonic averaged model, we further developed the small-signal model that provides a complete characterization of both DC averages and higher-order harmonic responses. The proposed model captures important high-frequency overshoots and undershoots of the converter response, which are otherwise unaccounted for by the existing techniques. In two converter examples, the proposed model corrects the misleading results of the existing models by providing the truthful characterization of the overall converter AC response and offers important guidance for converter design and closed-loop control. To address the problem of time-consuming simulation of power distribution networks, we present a partition-based iterative method by integrating block-Jacobi method with support graph method. The former enjoys the ease of parallelization, however, lacks a direct control of the numerical properties of the produced partitions. In contrast, the latter operates on the maximum spanning tree of the circuit graph, which is optimized for fast numerical convergence, but is bottlenecked by its difficulty of parallelization. In our proposed method, the circuit partitioning is guided by the maximum spanning tree of the underlying circuit graph, offering essential guidance for achieving fast convergence. The resulting block-Jacobi-like preconditioner maximizes the numerical benefit inherited from support graph theory while lending itself to straightforward parallelization as a partitionbased method. The experimental results on IBM power grid suite and synthetic power grid benchmarks show that our proposed method speeds up the DC simulation by up to 11.5X over a state-of-the-art direct solver

Small-Signal Circuit Model for Synchronous Buck DC/DC Converter featuring ZVS at Low-Side

In this paper we provide an improved small-signal equivalent circuit model of a synchronous Buck converter which operates in Continuous Conduction Mode (CCM) and includes an alternative Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) mechanism for the low-side power MOSFET that rely on the MOSFETs output capacitance. The addressed analysis improves the state of the art in DC/DC small-signal modeling as it is capable to predict unexpected effects on the dynamical system response such as the dependency on input voltage introduced by parasitics. Therefore, a complete design tool which permits to evaluate the impact of the MOSFETs output capacitance and the ZVS network on the converter dynamics is proposed. The derived equivalent circuit model which includes an additional feedforward path and a feedback loop is analyzed and the main open-loop transfer functions (control-to-output, line-to-output, output impedance) are analytically assessed. A verification has been carried out through SIMPLIS circuital simulations, corroborating the validity of the whole evaluation process

Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion

This Special Issue summarizes, in a single reference, timely emerging topics related to power electronics for sustainable energy conversion. Furthermore, at the same time, it provides the reader with valuable information related to open research opportunity niches

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

Electrical performance characteristics of high power converters for space power applications

The first goal of this project was to investigate various converters that would be suitable for processing electric power derived from a nuclear reactor. The implementation is indicated of a 20 kHz system that includes a source converter, a ballast converter, and a fixed frequency converter for generating the 20 kHz output. This system can be converted to dc simply by removing the fixed frequency converter. This present study emphasized the design and testing of the source and ballast converters. A push-pull current-fed (PPCF) design was selected for the source converter, and a 2.7 kW version of this was implemented using three 900 watt modules in parallel. The characteristic equation for two converters in parallel was derived, but this analysis did not yield any experimental methods for measuring relative stability. The three source modules were first tested individually and then in parallel as a 2.7 kW system. All tests proved to be satisfactory; the system was stable; efficiency and regulation were acceptable; and the system was fault tolerant. The design of a ballast-load converter, which was operated as a shunt regulator, was investigated. The proposed power circuit is suitable for use with BJTs because proportional base drive is easily implemented. A control circuit which minimizes switching frequency ripple and automatically bypasses a faulty shunt section was developed. A nonlinear state-space-averaged model of the shunt regulator was developed and shown to produce an accurate incremental (small-signal) dynamic model, even though the usual state-space-averaging assumptions were not met. The nonlinear model was also shown to be useful for large-signal dynamic simulation using PSpice