TWO-STEP INDUCTORLESS DC/DC POWER TRANSFORMERS: CLASSICAL CONFIGURATIONS, EFFICIENCY AND APPROXIMATIONS

Josif Kosev
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University SS. Cyril and Methodius - Skopje, Karpos 2 b.b., 1000 Skopje, Macedonia, phone: +389 2 3099 102, e-mail: j.kosev@ieee.org

Keywords: inductorless power converters, charge pump, switched capacitors

ABSTRACT: An overview of all possible classical inductorless DC-to-DC power transformers (with parallel-serial capacitor switching) is presented. The general relations for the ideal voltage transfer ratio are derived. The efficiency is discussed. A possible linear approximation is investigated.

1. INTRODUCTION Classical inductorless DC transformers (IDCT) are circuits composed of capacitors and switches. They operate in two states: in the first one all of the capacitors are connected in parallel and in the other one they are connected in series. These transformers are also known as switched-capacitor transformers or chargepump transformers. There are many articles researching their configurations ([1]-[6]) and they have found their place in many practical applications [7] but the ideal classical transformers (composed of ideal capacitors and switches) are rarely investigated. They are even excluded in some basic topological investigations [8], [9], although their behavior is the essence of the behavior of the classical IDCT. This article systematically presents all possible classical inductorless transformers and their transfer ratios, and discusses their efficiency. A possible approximation of the output voltage waveform is investigated. 2. POSSIBLE CONFIGURATIONS SURVEY Considering the output-to-input voltage ratio, following configurations can be identified: - whole number reduction of the input voltage (WNR), - whole number increase of the input voltage (WNI), - opposite sign whole number reduction of the input voltage (OSWNR), - opposite sign whole number increase of the input voltage (OSWNI), - rational number reduction of the input voltage (RNR), - rational number increase of the input voltage (RNI), There are two possible variations of the first two configurations: - Type 1 (not isolated), where in one of the states both, the input voltage source and the load, belong to a same loop,

- Type 2 (isolated), where the input voltage source and the load never belong to a same loop. The isolation within the Type 2 is just a notation since usually both, the input voltage source and the load, are grounded. True (galvanic) isolation with inductorless transformers can be achieved, but at the expense of additional (isolation) switches and appropriate isolation of their driving circuitry. Since the transformers have two states, they can be realized either as asymmetrical or as symmetrical circuits. Actually, symmetrical ones consist of two identical transformers with common input and output, operating in opposite states. The principle circuit diagrams are shown below.
Sn Sn Cn Sng Sn-1 Sn-1 + VI Cn-1 S2 C2 S2g S1 S1 C1 S1g S0 CO VO RL
C2 S2g S1 S1 C1 CO VO RL
+ VI

Sn Sn Cn Sng Sn-1 Sn-1 + VI Cn-1 S2

Sn Sn Cn Sng Sn-1 Sn-1 Cn-1 S2 C2 S2g S1 S1 S0 S1g C1 CO VO RL + VI

Sn Sn Cn S ng Sn-1 Sn-1 Cn-1 S2 C2 S 2g S1 S1 CO C1 VO RL

a) Type 1 b) Type 2 Fig. 1. Classical asymmetrical WNR IDCT

Sn Sng Cn Sn Sn-1 S (n -1)g + VI Cn-1 S2g C2 S2 S1 S1g C1 S1 S0 CO VO RL
+ VI S2g S1 S1 C1 S1g S0 CO VO RL S2 C2 Sng Sn-1 Sn-1 Cn-1 Sn Sn Cn

a) Type 1 b) Type 2 Fig. 2. Classical asymmetrical WNI IDCT

Sn Cn Sno Sn-1 Cn-1 S2 C2 S2o S1 + VI C1 S1o S0 S1 CO VO RL + V I
S2i S1 C1 S1i S0 Sni S n-1 Cn Sn-1 C n-1 S2 C2 S1 CO VO RL

Sn

Sn

Sn

Sn-1

a) OSWNR b) OSWNI Fig. 3. Classical asymmetrical inverting IDCT

a) RNR b) RNI Fig. 4. Classical asymmetrical rational number IDCT

Fig. 1 presents the whole-number-reduction voltage transformers. Here the capacitors are charged from the input voltage source connected in series (switches Si ON) and discharged at the load in parallel (switches Si ON). Type 1 converters include the output capacitor in the charging loop, while Type 2 does not. Fig. 2 presents the voltage multipliers (whole-number-increase voltage transformers). Now the capacitors are connected in parallel with the input voltage source and discharged in series at the load. Inverting transformers are presented in Fig. 3. Obviously, they can not be of Type 1. On the other hand, rational number voltage transformers of Type 2 does not exist (Fig. 4). Consequently, inverting transformers with rational voltage ratio does not exist too. Rational voltage reduction is obtained by charging the capacitors in series connected between the input voltage source and the load, and discharging them in parallel at the load. Rational voltage increase is obtained by charging the capacitors from the input voltage source in series and discharging them connected in parallel but with the minus pole at the input voltage source and plus pole at the output. If the capacitors are connected reversely in the second step, the circuit would exhibit rational voltage reduction too, but at the expense of increased power losses. Asymmetrical transformers draw current from the input voltage source only in one step and deliver different current to the load in the two steps (down to zero in one of the steps for Type 2). The only exception is the divider by two Type 1. This imbalance is the main source of increased input-current and output-voltage ripple. The solution is the symmetrical configurations where both steps are balanced. They can be easily derived from the asymmetrical and are not discussed. 3. IDEAL VOLTAGE RATIO AND EFFICIENCY The ideal voltage ratio is obtained with the unloaded transformer. Since the switched capacitors are connected in parallel during their operation, they must have equal voltages and their values should be the same to avoid additional charge redistribution (and thus power losses). If this voltage is denoted as VCs, than we can write: - for WNR Type 1: VO = VCs ,VO + nVCs = VI VO = VI (n + 1) (1) - for WNR Type 2:

VO = VCs , nVCs = VI VO = VI n VO = VI + nVCs ,VCs = VI VO = (n + 1)VI

- for WNI Type 2: - for WNI Type 1:

(2) (3) (4)

VO = nVCs , VCs = VI VO = nVI

- for OSWNR:

VO = VCs , nVCs = VI VO = VI n
- for OSWNI:

(5) (6)

VO = nVCs , VCs = VI VO = nVI

- for RNR:

VO = nVCs , VO + VCs = VI VO =
- for RNI:

n VI n +1

(7)

n +1 VI . (8) n We can note that the Type 1 transformers yield higher voltage ratios since they use one more capacitor (the output filter capacitor). RNR and RNI transformers are mostly usable with two and three switched capacitors filling the gap that WNR and WNI transformers leave for output-to-input voltage ratios between 0.5 and 2, and these ratios are very common in the practice. All of the previous configurations are valid if the input voltage source is replaced with a current source (or equivalent current source, such as a transistor). The average input (II) and output (IO) currents satisfy the following equation: 1 IO = II , (9) Ki VO = VI + VCs , nVCs = VI VO =
where Ki is the ideal transfer ratio of the corresponding voltage transformer. Actually this is valid for the voltage transformers even if the output-to-input voltage ratio is different from the ideal value [8], [10]. This gives the efficiency equation: V 1 = O . (10) VI K i 3. A POSSIBLE APROXIMATION The output voltage waveform of the ideal transformers consists of abrupt jumps and exponential declines. The exponential waveform produces transcendental relations if analytical investigations are performed. Replacing the exponential waveform with linear one would reduce the burden for their analytical investigations. The question is: under what conditions this approximation is valid, or what is the domain of validity for this approximation. Intuitively, such an approximation is applicable since the output voltage should have small enough ripple for the transformer to be functional. Let the exponential waveform e (where is the time constant of the circuit in the appropriate state) be approximated with a linear one that passes through the initial point t=0 and intersects the exponential waveform at time tx (Fig. 5).
t

e-tx/
0

e-t/ tx

Fig. 5. Linear approximation of the exponential waveform

Let chouse the moment tx such that the average value of the approximated waveform deviates from the average value of the exact waveform less than 1%. The average values of the exact and the approximated waveforms are:
1 AVexact = e dt = 1 e tx 0 tx and the deviation is: tx t tx

tx

and

AVaprox

1+ e = 2

tx

(11)

AVaprox AVexact AVexact

1 tx 1 + e 1 . t x 2 1 e

(12)

With < 0.01 , the numerical solution of the relation (12) gives:

tx

> 3.

(13)

Since maximum value for tx can be T (the output waveform period), the condition (13) becomes:

r =

> 3,

(14)

where r is the relative time-constant of the circuit in the appropriate step. If this value is applied to the original exponential waveform, a value of

e = 0.722 is obtained which means that the output voltage ripple can be up to 100 72.2 = 28.8% . This value is an order of magnitude higher than the maximal practical values.
4. CONCLUSIONS Classical inductorless transformers are the most explored in the practice and should be thoroughly researched from any aspect. This article is a contribution

0.34

towards a systematical survey of all possible configurations and their ideal voltagetransfer ratios. The linear output-voltage-waveform approximation analysis shows that it is applicable within a large range of output voltage ripple. 5. REFERENCES
[1] F. Ueno, T. Inoue, T. Umeno, I. Oota, Analysis and application of switched-capacitor transformers by formulation, in Electronics and Communications in Japan, Part II: Electronics, Vol. 73, No. 9, Sept. 1990 [2] S. V. Cheong, H. Chung, and A. Ioinovici, Inductorless DC-to-DC Converter with High Power Density in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Vol. 41, No. 2, April 1994 [3] G. Zhu, A. Ioinovici, Switched-capacitor power supplies: DC voltage ratio, efficiency, ripple, regulation, in Proceedings of IEEE Int. Symp. on Circ. and Syst., 1996, pp. 553-556 [4] J. Kosev, G. L. Arsov 12V to 5V Switched Capacitor DC-to-DC Converter With N-channel Power MOS Switches, Proc. Fifth Nat. Scientific Conf. with Int. Participation "Electronics'96", Technical Univ., Sofia, Bulgaria, and Technical University, Delft, The Netherlands Sozopol, Bulgaria, September 27-29, 1996, pp 120124. [5] J. ]osev, G. L. Arsov, PWM - Controllable 12V to 5V inductorless DC-to-DC converter with minimum component count, Proceedings of the 9-th Symposium on Power Electronics, Novi Sad, 22-24 Oct. 1997, pp 161165 [6] J. Kosev, G. Arsov, 12V to 15V PWM regulated switched capacitor DC-to-DC converter, Proc. 8th Scientific Conference, Electronics'99, Sozopol, Bulgaria, Sep. 23-25. 1999, pp 118-123 [7] Business Management at MAXIM, at address: http://dbserv.maxim-ic.com/view_press_release.cfm?release_id=611 [8] M. S. Makowski and D. Maksimovic, Performance Limits of Switched-Capacitor DC-DC Converters, in PESC Rec., 1995, pp. 1215-1221 [9] M. S. Makowski, Realizebility conditions on synthesis of switched-capacitor DC-DC voltage multiplier circuits in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems - I: Fundamental Theory and Applications, Vol. 44, No. 8, August 1997, pp.684-691 [10] J. Kosev, Charge pump power converters`, PhD Dissertation, Faculty of Electrical Engineering Skopje, 2001 (in Macedonian)