Lecture 7. D.C.-D.C.

conversion (2): boost converter

In this lecture:
5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 5.4. operation Input/output characteristic Edge jitter Design Example

The boost converter is very useful for stepping d.c. voltages up: that is, for producing output voltages higher than the input voltage. As before, assume that the components are all ideal, and the JFET switches with a period of T. The duty cycle is D=ton/T.

Mode 1 JFET switch closed

Assume the capacitor is initially charged. When the switch is closed, it shorts point A to ground: VA=0, the diode does not conduct and we get two loops.
iL + Vin L A

L vL

iC

5.1. Operation
+ Vin -

vC

Rload

vout

JFET Switch

Rload

+ vout -

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In loop 1, the Vin energises the inductor: the current in the inductor climbs linearly, with a slope depending on the value of L:
di Vin L L dt di V L in constant L dt

Remember! For sufficiently high C and R the vout falloff is very small. The decay is approximately linear for a short time (compared to the RC time-constant).

Mode 2 JFET Switch Open

L A iL iC C iR Rload vout>Vin

Meanwhile in loop 2 the charged capacitor slowly discharges into the load, maintaining a (very slowlydecaying) voltage across the load.
iout = iC , vout = vC vout dv = C out R dt dvout vout vout = dt RC RC
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+ Vin -

vL<0

With the switch open, the node A floats back up to a positive voltage and the diode conducts current.

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The inductor de-energises: it acts as a source, producing a positive iL with a negative voltage vL: a very large voltage, Vin-vL, is thus dropped across R, larger than Vin. The large voltage also re-charges C.
v out = v C = Vin v L = Vin + v L > Vin Since VL<0 is constant and negative, the resulting current in the inductor decreases gradually between t=ton and t=T:

5.2. Input/output characteristic

To find out the relationship between vout and Vin, consider the energy in and out.

Energy in. All energy into the circuit comes from the D.C. input voltage
source. Since the inductor current is fairly steady, then power is delivered steadily over the whole period:

E in = Vin i L T

Energy out. Energy reaches the load and capacitor only when the diode conducts; that is, when the switch is off.
E out = vout i L (T t on )

Taking
E out = E in gives
vout i L (T t on ) = Vin i LT

If T is kept sufficiently short then the current ripple is acceptably small.

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therefore
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vout T 1 = = Vin T t on 1 D
So vOUT is greater than Vin. In this way we can boost the output voltage compared to the input voltage.

5.3. Edge jitter

Edge jitter is the uncertainty in the output voltage level due to noise or uncertainty in the timing of the clock signal to the switch. Every signal has some uncertainty or noise. In particular, the rise and fall times of a square clock signal are often inexact: the edges of the square wave may occur slightly earlier or later than they ideally should. This is called jitter. Even a small jitter in a switching converter can lead to large errors in output voltage.

Notes
The battery can not be left too long energising the inductor. For this reason, a switching failure could cause disaster! The inductor voltage can be very large, and changes rapidly between positive and negative. This can lead to unwanted electromagnetic emissions.

Example
Consider a boost converter with

Switching frequency = 100 kHz Edge jitter = 100 ns Vin = 10 V, D = 0.75.

What is the edge jitters effect on output voltage?

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Solution
Right away, we find T = 10 s. So 100ns edge jitter represents only 1% of T.

Thus a 1% error in the timing signal results in a 4V (=10%) swing in the output voltage quite a large output error. Edge jitter (or timing jitter) is a particular problem when the scaling ratio is large.

Vin = 10V, tOFF = 2.5s 100 ns (=0.1 s)

v out = Vin T 1 = Vin t OFF 1 D

A large scaling ratio corresponds to a small toff; a jitter of t then is then proportionally bigger, leading to a bigger output voltage uncertainty. So the buck and boost converters are most reliable when the duty ratio D is small.

Examine the range of values vout may take, given that both T and toff may differ by up to 0.1s:
10 v out (nominal) = 10 = 40V 2 .5 10 + 0.1 v out (max.) = 10 = 42.1V 2 .5 0 .1 10 0.1 v out (min.) = 10 = 38.1V 2.5 + 0.1
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5.4. Design Example

Design a Boost Converter such that a 5V input is scaled to 15V, with no more than a 50mV ripple on the output and an input current ripple of no more than 2%. The output load power is 6W. The switching frequency is 66.7 kHz and you main assume that timing jitter is not significant.

2.

Input current ripple and the inductor

The average input current can be determined by the output load power
Pout = v out i out i out = 6 / 15 = 0.4 A

Solution 1. Duty ratio

With an average output current of 0.4A, the maximum permissible ripple (2%) is 0.4x0.02=8mA. To find a value of L that permits this, recall that while the switch is closed (mode 1),

Switching period: T = 1 / f = 15s We need an output voltage of 15V from an input of 5V, thus the switch-off time toff is given by
v out = Vin T t OFF

v L = Vi = L
giving

diL I L L dt t on

V t OFF = i T = 1 T = 5s 3 Vo T t off 10 t = = 66% And D = on = T T 15

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L=

t on Vi i L

Recall the maximum permissible current ripple is i L max = 8 mA , so we require

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L>

ton Vi iL max

3.

Output voltage ripple and the capacitor

(15 5) 10 6 > 5 = 6.25 mH 8 10 3

In mode 1 (0<t<ton), the charged capacitor supplies energy to the load, maintaining the output voltage (approximately). The capacitor discharges slightly, and its voltage falls by a small amount. Assuming the current falls linearly allows us to write

So a larger inductor can store more energy during ton, and guarantees a smaller ripple current. If the load current were smaller, then a 2% ripple tolerance would represent an even smaller IL, demanding an even bigger inductor. In this way, the smaller the demanded ripple, the bigger the required inductor.

iC C

vC v = C out t t ON

Rearranging gives

C = iC

t ON v out

We require C such that v out (max) = 50 mV ; in other words

C > iC t ON 10 10 6 = (0.4 ) = 80 F vout max 50 10 3

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We have now defined all the components we need, so just picking values that satisfy these constraints, comfortably above their minima, gives us the following circuit:
10 mH

D = 66% toff = 5s C L = 100F = 10mH

+ Vin -

toff =5s

100 F

Rload

vout

In the next lecture we will see a D.C.- D.C. converter that is capable of voltages smaller or bigger than the input voltage.
END OF LECTURE
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