Many control schemes for dc-dc converters begin with the assertion that inductor currents are fast states and capacitor voltages are slow states. This assertion must be true for power factor correction (PFC) converters to allow independent control of current and voltage. In the present work, singular perturbation theory is applied to boost converters to provide rigorous justification of the time scale separation. Krylov-Bogoliubov-Mitropolsky (KBM) averaging is used to include switching ripple effects. A relationship between inductance, capacitance, load resistance, and loss resistances derives from an analysis of an approximate model. Similar results hold for buck and buck-boost converters. An experimental boost converter and a simulated PFC boost support the derived requirement
